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THE  SINLESS   CHRIST 


F.  Gutekunst 

George  Tybout  Purves,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


JLhc  Presbyterian  pulpit 

* 


THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 


BY 

GEORGE  TYBOUT  PURVES,  D.  D.,  LL.D. 

Late  Pastor  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York, 
Sometime  Professor  in  Princeton  Theological  Seminary 


PHILADELPHIA 

PRESBYTERIAN   BOARD   OF   PUBLICATION 
AND  SABBATH-SCHOOL  WORK 

1902 


Copyright,  1902,  by  the  Trustees  of 
The  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication  and  Sabbath- 
School  Work. 

Published  November,  iq02. 


INTRODUCTION 

The  sermons  contained  in  this  volume  cannot 
fairly  be  called  sermons  preached  by  Dr.  Purves. 
He  prepared  full  notes.  In  preaching,  however, 
he  was  absolutely  independent  of  them,  and  many 
of  the  most  impressive  passages  of  his  discourses 
had  never  been  written.  But,  as  he  closely  ad- 
hered in  the  pulpit  at  many  points  to  the  lan- 
guage of  the  outline  written  in  his  study,  these 
discourses  will  enable  the  readers  who  heard  him 
preach  on  their  texts  to  recall  the  sermons  as 
he  delivered  them. 

Those  who,  like  the  writer  of  this  Introduction, 
listened  to  Dr.  Purves  regularly  as  his  parish- 
ioners know  that  he  was  an  exceptionally  great 
preacher.  Underlying  his  preaching  was  the 
Christian  "theory  of  the  universe."  To  this 
theory  he  had  given  and  was  always  giving  the 
careful  study  and  reflection  of  a  large,  disci- 
plined and  energetic  mind.     As  he  apprehended 


vi  INTRODUCTION 

it,  it  was  self-consistent,  justified  by  reason  and 
in  harmony  with  his  religious  experience.  It  was 
his  strongest,  most  distinct  and  most  cherished 
intellectual  conviction. 

During  his  entire  professional  life  he  was  a 
close,  scientific  and  enthusiastic  student  of  the 
Bible,  and  of  the  New  Testament  in  particular. 
He  had  a  brilliant  career  for  eight  years  as  Profes- 
sor of  New  Testament  Literature  and  Exegesis  in 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  He  knew  the 
later  Scriptures  as  few  men  know  them.  He 
received  them  as  the  absolutely  truthful  and  in- 
spired record  of  God's  gracious  revelation  to  sin- 
ful men,  and  as  the  infallible  rule  of  religious 
faith  and  life. 

His  religious  Hfe  was  sincere  and  simple.  The 
trait  which  those  near  to  him  would  probably  call 
distinguishing  and  out-standing  was  his  affectionate 
loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ,  his  Redeemer,  Lord  and 
Friend. 

He  was  a  man  of  high  intellectual  tastes  and 
wide  and  various  intellectual  interests.  He  was  a 
cultivated  man  who  loved  good  and  great  books. 
But  these  tastes,  strong  as  they  were,  were  reso- 


INTRODUCTION  vii 

lutely  subordinated  to  his  sympathy  with  his 
fellow-men,  his  affection  for  them  and  his  active 
interest  in  their  spiritual  well-being.  This  affec- 
tionate interest  finely  revealed  itself  in  his  work- 
as  a  Christian  pastor.  I  never  knew  a  better 
pastor  than  Dr.  Purves  was  when  in    Princeton. 

He  had  a  great  gift  of  speech.  I  have  heard 
him  more  than  once  when  he  was  compelled  to 
speak  with  no  time  at  all  for  preparation  and  had 
to  throw  himself  upon  his  reserve  of  culture. 
At  these  times  he  surprised  and  delighted  me 
by  the  spontaneous  methodizing  of  his  mind,  and 
the  clearness  and  grace  of  his  speech.  I  never 
heard  him  speak  when  his  own  emotions  and 
the  emotions  of  his  audience  were  not  stirred. 
He  spoke  with  fervor  and  energy,  which  the 
hearer  felt  as  power. 

To  say  that  these  were  the  gifts,  convictions, 
attainments  and  method  of  a  man  is  to  call  him  a 
great  didactic  Christian  orator.  But  no  catalogue 
will  explain  the  consummate  charm  of  Dr.  Purves 
as  a  preacher.  The  living  whole  was  far  greater 
than  the  sum  of  all  the  parts.  We,  whom  he  in- 
structed and  inspired,  while  we  rejoice  that  some 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

of  his  discourses  are  given  to  the  public,  cannot 
help  regretting  that  many  of  those  who  will  ob- 
tain from  this  volume  new  strength  to  do  and 
bear  and  undergo  and  overcome,  did  not  enjoy 
the  high  privilege  which  was  ours  when  he 
opened  unto  us  the  Scriptures. 

John  DeWitt. 
Princeton,  October  23,  1902. 


CONTENTS 


I.  The  Sinless  Christ  .... 

II.  The  Crisis  of  a  Soul 

III.  Confessing  Christ    .... 

IV.  Samson's  Riddle       .... 

V.  Peter's    Shadow,    or     Unconscious     In 
FLUENCE        ..... 

VI.  The  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life 

VII.  Earthly  and  Heavenly  Lights 

VIII.  The  Waiting  Dead  .... 


3 

25 
47 
73 

97 

121 

143 
167 


THE   SINLESS   CHRIST 


THE  SINLESS   CHRIST 


THE  SINLESS  CHRIST  i 

"  For  such  an  high  priest  became  us,  who  is  holy,  harmless, 
undefiled,  separate  from  sinners." — Heb.  vii.  26, 

Whatever  makes  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ 
vividly  real  to  our  thoughts  helps  us  in  our  daily 
lives.  Practical  Christianity  finds  a  mighty  stimu- 
lus in  trusting,  contemplating,  understanding,  and 
following  Him  ;  for  in  so  doing  we  learn  to  live 
with  God  and  for  man.  He  is  the  personal  center 
of  our  religion,  the  living  revelation  of  truth  and 
life,  the  magnet  by  which  we  are  drawn  heaven- 
ward, the  One  in  and  by  whom  salvation  becomes 
an  actual  possession.  Yet  thus  vividly  and 
truthfully  to  apprehend  Him  is  not  easy.  Being 
invisible.  He  does  not  stand  so  clearly  before  us  as 
do  other  objects  which  address  themselves  to  our 
senses.     The    historical   distance  from  us  of  His 

'  The  copyright  of  this  sermon  belongs  to  the  Fleming  H. 
Revell  Company,  New  York  and  Chicago,  who  courteously  permit 
its  use  in  this  volume. 

3 


4  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

earthly  career  is  apt  to  make  His  figure  indistinct. 
Even  our  dogmatic  conceptions  of  His  person 
and  work  sometimes  become  formal  and  lifeless, 
though  intended  to  interpret  Him,  and  though 
correctly  expressing  what  we  should  believe  about 
Him.  It  ought,  therefore,  to  be  our  effort  con- 
stantly to  repaint  His  figure  upon  the  canvas  of 
our  thought,  to  turn  upon  Him  the  hght  of  ex- 
perience and  research,  of  comparison  and  analy- 
sis, that  fresh  ideas  of  His  unspeakable  glory 
may  daily  dawn  upon  our  minds,  delight  our 
hearts,  and  cause  us  to  give  Him  all  the  admira- 
tion and  devotion  of  which  we  may  be  capable. 
Now,  in  the  words  of  our  text,  we  have  briefly 
described  the  moral  purity  of  Jesus,  the  sinless, 
unspotted  excellence  of  His  personal  character. 
The  language  is  very  vivid.  It  shows  the  pro- 
found impression  which  Jesus  made  on  the  first 
generation  of  disciples — the  immediate  reflection 
of  the  impression  made  on  those  who  came  into 
direct  contact  with  Him.  The  words  breathe  the 
realism  of  personal  acquaintance.  They  do  not 
enlarge  upon  what  all  knew,  but  they  express 
very  beautifully  the  sense  of  ineffable  purity  and 
holiness,  of  infinite  moral  superiority,  which  the 
disciples  received  from  Him  whose  very  presence 
had  revealed  a  new  and  heavenly  life.     He  was 


THE  SINLESS  CHRIST  5 

"  holy  ";  and  the  Greek  word  is  not  the  common 
one  for  a  thing  set  apart  for  sacred  usage,  but  a 
word  less  often  employed  and  indicative  of  an 
exquisitely  pure  and  lofty  character,  one  that  real- 
ized and  discharged  all  its  obligations.  He  was 
*'  harmless,"  i.  e.,  thoroughly  good,  gentle,  benevo- 
lent, tender-hearted,  and  true.  Out  of  Him  as 
they  remembered  Him,  no  harm  ever  proceeded. 
No  evil  ever  issued  from  act  or  word  of  His. 
Nothing  but  good  came  from  Him.  When  we 
remember  how  much  we  influence  one  another, 
and  how  much  evil  goes  forth  even  from  the  best 
of  us,  to  counterbalance  not  a  little  of  the  good 
we  do,  we  shall  appreciate  the  character  of  the 
One  of  whom  it  could  be  said  by  those  who  knew 
Him  best,  that  He  was,  as  He  bade  them  to  be, 
"  harmless  as  a  dove."  Further,  He  was  "  unde- 
filed  " — untainted  by  the  corruption  of  the  world 
in  which  He  dwelt,  unspotted  by  the  passions 
which  left  a  stain  even  on  apostles.  In  short,  He 
was  "  separate  from  sinners."  Some  would  take 
these  words  with  those  that  follow,  "  made  higher 
than  the  heavens,"  and  understand  them  to  de- 
scribe our  Lord  as  now  separated  at  the  right 
hand  of  God  from  the  world  of  sinners,  even  as 
the  high  priest  in  the  most  holy  place  was  sepa- 
rated from   the   multitude  for   whom    He    made 


6  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

atonement.  But  I  judge  it  more  natural  to  see  in 
these  words  another  phrase  to  describe  Christ's  per- 
sonal character.  He  was  separated  from  sinners. 
The  disciples  who  stood  nearest  to  Him  felt  that 
there  was  a  great  chasm  between  His  spotless 
soul  and  theirs.  He  was  on  a  plane  above  them. 
His  motives  and  purposes  were  unlike  theirs. 
And  this,  although  in  other  respects  He  was  so 
near  to  them  and  so  truly  man.  He  had  laid  hold, 
as  this  epistle  says,  on  the  seed  of  Abraham.  He 
was  touched  with  the  feeling  of  their  infirmities. 
He  was  full  of  sympathy  and  friendship.  He 
understood  them.  He  took  them  by  the  hand. 
He  wept  over  their  griefs  and  rejoiced  in  their 
joys.  Yet  He  was  evidently  as  far  above  them 
as  the  gleaming  stars  w^ere  higher  than  the  water 
in  which  their  brilliance  was  reflected.  He  was 
the  friend  of  publicans  and  harlots,  and  yet  He 
was  "  separate  from  sinners." 

Could  any  language  more  forcibly  express  the 
sense  which  the  disciples  had  of  their  Master's 
sinlessness  ?  As  I  have  said,  the  words  indicate 
the  realism  of  personal  -acquaintance.  They  do 
not  speak  in  the  language  of  the  schools.  They 
do  not  measure  Christ's  worth  by  formal  stand- 
ards. They  are  the  outcome  of  personal  adora- 
tion  and  unspeakable  reverence   for  One   whose 


THE  SINLESS  CHRIST  7 

character  and  life  had  been  to  those  who  knew 
Him  the  disclosure  of  the  absolutely  good. 

Now  I  desire  to  enable  you,  if  possible,  to  real- 
ize afresh  the  sinlessness  of  Jesus  Christ  by  sug- 
gesting certain  considerations  which  ought  to 
make  it  very  clear  and  very  astonishing  to  our 
minds.  I  would  exalt  your  sense  of  His  personal 
perfection, — unlike  that  of  any  other  character 
who  ever  has  appeared  in  the  history  of  our  race, 
— and  I  would  do  it,  not  by  a  formal  proof  of  the 
doctrine,  but  by  setting  His  life  in  its  surround- 
ings, with  the  hope  that  the  same  impression  may 
be  made  on  our  minds  as  on  those  who  knew 
Him  first, 

I.  Consider,  then,  that  in  all  the  records  which 
we  have  of  the  Lord  Jesus  there  is  not  the  slight- 
est betrayal  by  Him  of  the  least  degree  of  the 
consciousness  of  sin.  We  have  a  sufficiently 
(complete  record  to  justify  us  in  saying  that  this 
is  a  fact.  We  see  Him  in  most  trying  hours.  We 
hear  Him  pray.  We  listen  to  His  teaching  on 
religious  themes.  We  hear  Him  reprove  others. 
We  catch  glimpses  of  Him  in  private  as  well  as 
in  public.  We  know  that  He  spoke  often  about 
Himself  But  in  all  the  life  of  Christ  we  never 
hear  any  confession  of  unworthiness  or  any  long- 
ing after  holiness,  nor  discover  any  indication  what- 


8  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

ever  that  He  felt  Himself  in  the  least  degree 
touched  by  sin. 

The  significance  of  this  will  appear  if  we  recall 
two  other  facts,  one  of  experience,  the  other  of 
history. 

The  first  is  that,  as  a  matter  of  universal  ex- 
perience, the  more  spiritual  a  man  becomes  the 
more  does  he  feel  himself  a  sinner  and  unworthy 
of  fellowship  with  God.  The  progress  of  man's 
moral  life  commonly  consists  in  the  awakening 
and  sharpening  of  his  conscience.  He  becomes 
more  keenly  aware  of  moral  obligations.  He 
sees  them  where  before  he  saw  them  not.  He 
analyzes  more  thoroughly  his  motives  and  clas- 
sifies more  correctly  his  duties.  He  becomes 
more  sensitive  to  the  demands  made  upon  his 
conscience,  just  as  progress  in  other  departments 
of  activity  consists  in  the  refinement  of  our  powers 
and  the  larger  perception  of  the  objects  on  which 
they  were  meant  to  terminate.  This  is  the  law 
of  the  moral  and  spiritual  life  of  man.  He  is  at 
first  a  child,  and,  like  a  child,  takes  in  only  a  few 
facts,  feels  his  obligations  in  but  a  few  directions. 
Some  men  never  grow  beyond  this  stage.  Though 
their  intellects  may  be  cultured  and  their  bodies 
strengthened,  their  moral  faculties  remain  unde- 
veloped.    Then   conscience   is    apt    to  become  a 


THE  SINLESS  CHRIST  9 

mere  scourge,  driving  to  unloved  duty ;  a  night- 
mare, affrighting  with  threats  of  torment.  I^ut 
just  so  far  as  the  spiritual  life  of  man  has  blos- 
somed and  flowered,  so  far  has  his  sensitiveness 
to  evil  increased,  his  recognition  of  it  brightened 
and  clarified,  his  consciousness  of  its  presence  in 
him  become  more  intense,  and  his  longings  after 
freedom  from  it  become  stronger.  Witness  in 
proof  of  this  the  hymns  of  all  religions,  and 
especially  the  hymns  of  Christendom.  Witness 
the  advance  of  social  morality,  taking  in,  as  it  has 
gradually  done,  matters  that  were  once  thought 
quite  indifferent.  Read  the  confessions  of  the 
purest  men  and  women  who  ever  have  lived.  Those 
that  have  risen  highest  have  felt  themselves  the 
lowest.  And  this  has  not  been  a  delusion  with 
them ;  they  have  only  seen  more  clearly.  A  vil- 
lainous murderer  went  to  the  scaffold  saying  that 
he  looked  on  his  life  as  a  whole  with  much  satis- 
faction, and  felt  that,  with  the  trifling  exception 
of  a  murder,  he  had  tried  to  do  right  by  all  men. 
Augustine  wrote,  "  The  dwelling  of  my  soul  is  in 
ruins  ;  do  Thou  restore  it.  There  is  that  in  it  which 
must  offend  thine  eyes ;  I  confess  and  know  it : 
but  who  will  cleanse  it  ?"  Such  are  fair  examples. 
Who  of  us  that  tries  to  love  God  does  not  know 
the   same   thing  from   his   own   experience?     As 


lo  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

Christian  life  proceeds,  as  its  insight  becomes 
clearer,  as  its  consciousness  deepens  and  is  puri- 
fied, it  becomes  more  and  more  ready  to  say  with 
the  Scripture,  "  In  my  flesh  there  dwelleth  no 
good  thing,"  and  to  repeat  confessions  at  which 
the  world  sometimes  stands  amazed.  Just  in  pro- 
portion as  man's  moral  Hfe  advances  does  he  feel 
that  he  is  not  worthy  even  to  gather  up  the 
crumbs  that  fall  from  the  festal  table  which  the 
grace  of  God  has  spread. 

But  lo  !  the  one  Person  who  by  act  and  word 
gave  evidence  of  the  most  spiritual  life  was  abso- 
lutely without  this  element  of  mind.  He  had  the 
clearest  insight  into  moral  duties.  His  words  are 
still  recognized  as  embodying  the  loftiest  ethics. 
His  character  is  held  worthy  of  universal  imita- 
tion. He  loved  to  pray.  He  talked  with  God  as 
though  he  saw  Him.  Yet,  unlike  every  other 
man  of  spiritual  insight  who  ever  lived,  he  never 
betrayed  any  sense  of  unworthiness  or  of  need  of 
greater  holiness. 

This  stands  out  still  more  remarkably  when 
we  associate  it  with  the  historical  fact  that  in  the 
Jewish  world  in  which  Jesus  lived  the  sense  of 
sin  and  of  general  apostasy  from  God  was  spe- 
cially strong  among  awakened  minds.  Jesus  lived 
in  the  age  when  John  cried  to  all  Israel,  **  Repent !" 


THE  SINLESS  CHRIST  II 

and  with  prophetic  zeal  unveiled  the  monstrous 
corruption  of  the  church  and  nation.  But  John 
himself  very  plainly  confessed  his  own  unworthi- 
ness.  Speaking  of  the  Messiah,  he  said,  "  His  shoe's 
latchet  I  am  not  worthy  to  unloose."  So,  Hke- 
wise,  those  men  who  followed  Jesus  were  very 
emphatic  in  their  confessions  of  sin.  Peter  cried, 
"  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord."  The  centurion 
said,  "  I  am  not  worthy  that  thou  shouldest  come 
under  my  roof."  Paul  called  himself  "  the  chief 
of  sinners."  Wherever  Christ  or  his  gospel  went 
men  were  awakened  in  an  eminent  degree  to  the 
fact  of  sin,  and  were  led  to  confess  that,  even  if 
believers,  they  were  only  beginning  to  aspire  to 
that  holiness  without  which  they  felt  that  no 
man  can  see  the  Lord. 

But  again,  amid  this  whole  movement  and  as 
the  vital  center  of  it,  the  Lord  Jesus  never  be- 
trayed the  slightest  consciousness  of  wrong.  If 
He  had  been  the  product  of  the  same  influences 
which  molded  the  rest,  He  would  have  been  the 
loudest  in  His  confessions.  But  not  an  accent  of 
penitence  fell  from  His  lips.  How  does  the  con- 
sciousness of  sin  show  itself?  With  some  in  fear, 
causing  them  to  turn  away  from  God  and  dread  to 
think  of  Him,  much  more  to  pray.  With  others 
it  assumes  the  form  of  bravado,  leading  them  to 


12  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

boldly  dare  the  consequences  of  their  misdeeds. 
These  effects,  however,  are  seen  in  characters 
which  cannot  possibly  be  compared  with  Christ's. 
With  g-ood  men,  on  the  other  hand,  who  have 
been  awakened  to  a  sense  of  sin,  it  shows  itself 
in  expressions  of  repentance,  in  prayers  for  for- 
giveness, in  longings  after  holiness,  in  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  unmerited  grace  of  God ;  some- 
times in  painful  acts  of  self-denial  and  asceticism, 
which  are  supposed  to  compensate  for  transgres- 
sion or  to  extinguish  the  power  of  evil.  But  none 
of  these  things  are  discoverable  in  Jesus.  Though 
He  called  others  to  repent,  He  Himself  never 
expressed  repentance.  He  never  asked  to  be 
forgiven,  though  He  taught  us  to  ask  it.  On  the 
contrary,  we  find  Him  rejoicing  in  the  assurance 
of  His  Father's  eternal  love,  delighting  in  com- 
munion with  God,  and  finally  openly  challenging 
His  enemies  on  this  very  point :  "  Which  of  you 
convinceth  Me  of  sin  ?"  Nor  is  there  any  trace 
of  development  in  His  spiritual  life,  but,  from  the 
first  and  to  the  last,  the  utter  absence  of  the  con- 
sciousness of  sin  appears  in  Him.  The  Buddha 
claimed  to  reach  perfection,  but  only  as  the  result 
of  a  long  and  painful  process  of  self-purification. 
Christ  appears  as  free  from  the  sense  of  sin  in  the 
beginning  of  His  career  as  amid  its  close. 


THE  SINLESS  CHRIST  13 

Is  not  this  a  life  which  stands  alone  in  all  his- 
tory ?  Try  to  imagine,  if  it  be  possible  on  the 
ordinary  suppositions  of  human  experience,  how 
one  could  be  gifted  with  such  spiritual  discern- 
ment and  yet  see  no  flaw  in  himself,  if  there  was 
a  flaw.  How  could  one  teach  such  high  and 
pure  morals  without  confessing  his  own  short- 
comings, if  he  did  come  short  ?  How  could  one 
dwell  so  near  to  the  divine  Father  and  never  ask 
to  be  forgiven  sin,  which  that  Father  hates,  if 
there  was  any  sin  to  be  forgiven  ?  I  ask  you  to 
think  of  this,  not  from  the  standpoint  of  the  deity 
of  Christ  in  which  we  believe,  but  from  the  stand- 
point of  His  humanity.  Conceive  the  impression 
which  He  must  have  made  upon  those  about  Him. 
Realize  that  He  was  an  actual  living  person. 
Then  you  will  appreciate  the  fact  that  in  all  the 
record  of  His  life  there  is  not  a  trace  of  the 
slightest  sense  of  sin.  "  If  I  should  say,  I  know 
not  the  Father,"  said  Jesus  to  the  Pharisees,  "  I 
should  be  a  liar  hke  unto  you  :  but  I  know  Him 
and  keep  His  sayings."  '*  I  do  always  those 
things  which  please  Him."  Such  expressions, 
imbedded  in  such  a  life,  form  a  unique  fact  in  the 
history  of  moral  teaching. 

2.  There  are  only  two  ways  by  which  those 
who  doubt  these  facts  can  evade  the  force  of  the 


14  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

evidence.  The  first  is  by  saying  that  the  record 
in  the  gospels  is  not  true,  but  that  the  disciples 
exaggerated  the  character  of  their  Master,  embel- 
lished His  virtues,  and  forgot  His  faults.  To 
reply  to  this  objection  would  lead  us  too  far 
afield.  It  involves  the  whole  question  of  the 
credibiHty  of  the  Gospels.  But  I  may  point  out 
in  passing  that  the  Gospels  do  describe  Christ's 
weakness  and  weariness,  His  struggles  with  temp- 
tation, and  His  agony  in  the  garden.  They  evince 
no  disposition,  therefore,  to  idealize  the  character 
of  Jesus  or  to  hide  His  genuine  humanity.  On 
the  other  hand,  they  do  not,  except  in  the  pro- 
logue to  the  fourth  Gospel,  bring  out  the  formal 
doctrine  about  Him  which  the  apostles  themselves 
believed,  nor  do  they  impute  to  the  Master  the 
theological  language  which  later  revelations  would 
have  justified.  They  have  therefore  all  the  ap- 
pearance of  honest  histories.  They  confirm  one 
another.  They  are  themselves  confirmed  by  the 
epistles.  The  very  simplicity  of  their  story  attests 
their  historical  veracity. 

The  other  way  to  escape  the  natural  inference 
from  the  facts  of  which  we  have  been  speaking  is 
to  say  that  Jesus  was  under  an  hallucination,  that 
His  enthusiasm  made  Him  blind  to  His  own 
defects.      So   Renan   writes :    "  Jesus   cannot   be 


THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 


15 


judged  by  the  rule  of  our  petty  propriety.  The 
admiration  of  His  disciples  overwhelmed  Him 
and  carried  Him  away." 

I  wish,  therefore,  to  suggest  certain  other  facts 
which  render  these  objections  highly  improbable, 
and  which  also  serve  to  give  a  still  livelier  sense 
of  the  real  sinlessness  of  our  Lord. 

The  first  is  that  it  was  those  who  were  nearest 
to  Him  who  have  testified  to  His  spotless  purity. 
It  is  quite  easy  to  make  a  good  impression  on  the 
public.  It  is  not  so  easy  to  extort  from  those 
who  live  with  us  a  similar  tribute  unless  it  be 
deserved.  Many  men  seem  great  and  good  at  a 
distance,  but  nearer  at  hand  their  faults  are  mani- 
fest. Now  the  fact  was  that  in  public  Jesus  was 
often  charged  with  doing  wrong.  The  Pharisees 
openly  called  Him  a  sinner,  because  they  thought 
He  broke  the  Sabbath,  and  a  devil  because  He 
opposed  them,  and  a  blasphemer  because  He  said 
God  was  His  Father.  He  did  not  live  such  a  life 
as  to  be  called  a  saint  by  the  established  standard 
of  the  day.  His  reputation  was  not  based  on 
conformity  to  the  common  ideal.  On  the  con- 
trary. He  was  crucified  as  a  malefactor.  It  was 
only  those  who  lived  with  Him  who  testify  to  the 
spotless  beauty  of  His  character.  They  saw  Him 
in  private.     They  watched  Him  in  His  most  critical 


i6  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

hours.  They  heard  His  ejaculations.  They  were 
His  confidential  friends.  But  it  was  they  who 
from  the  very  first  acknowledged,  and  with  greater 
emphasis  as  their  acquaintance  with  Him  ripened, 
that  He  was  the  Holy  One  of  God.  Their  testi- 
mony seems  of  great  worth.  Popular  applause 
is  easy  to  win  if  we  conform  to  the  popular  ideal, 
but  this  testimony  was  rendered  in  the  face  of 
derision  and  apparent  failure,  by  those  who  knew 
Him  best. 

Furthermore,  nothing  that  Jesus  ever  said  or 
did  appears  even  now  to  indicate  sin  in  Him.  We 
have  grown  very  wise.  Some  think  that,  speak- 
ing comparatively,  we  have  grown  good.  Cer- 
tainly the  world  has  greatly  advanced  in  the 
knowledge  of  duty.  But  it  is  a  fact  that  we  can- 
not find  anything  to  criticize  in  Jesus  from  a  moral 
point  of  view.  All  that  we  can  do,  whether 
Christians  or  not,  from  theologians  to  novelists, 
is  to  show  that  our  teachings  were  His.  He  can 
still  say,  "  Which  of  you  convinceth  Me  of  sin  ?" 
In  this  age,  for  example,  we  lay  great  stress  on 
the  love  of  man  as  the  highest  form  of  morality ; 
on  benevolence,  unselfishness,  on  altruism.  But 
all  this  was  taught  and  practised  years  ago  by 
Jesus.  Or,  if  we  say  that  morality  depends  on 
the  motives  from  which  men  act,   what  motives 


THE  SINLESS  CHRIST  17 

can  be  higher  than  those  which  appear  in  the  Hfe 
of  Jesus  ?  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  the 
moral  code  of  the  ages,  and  point,  if  you  can,  to 
any  principle  or  precept  of  that  sermon  which 
Jesus  did  not  obey  in  His  life.  I  need  not  expand 
on  this;  but  I  beg  you  to  remember  that  the 
growing  moral  sense  of  nineteen  centuries  has 
not  convicted  Him  of  any  fault  of  character. 

Still  again,  remember  that  He  made  this  im- 
pression on  His  friends  and  gave  this  evidence 
in  His  life,  although  He  was  perfectly  open  to 
temptation  and,  in  fact,  fought  it  hand  to  hand. 
He  was  not  a  cold  ideal.  He  was  not  a  statue  in 
marble.  Life's  battle  was  tremendously  real  to 
Him.  He  was  tempted  as  we  are.  He  grew 
also  in  knowledge  and  wisdom.  Therefore  the 
spotless  holiness  of  His  character  becomes  of 
treble  worth.  It  appears  a  living  attainment.  It 
was  a  conquest.  It  was  a  thoroughly  human  qual- 
ity, and  on  that  account  must  have  impressed  the 
more  those  who  were  about  Him.  We  need  not 
stumble  over  the  notion  that  a  sinless  person  can- 
not be  tempted.  If  our  first  parents  were  tempted 
and  fell,  Christ  could  be  tempted  without  falling. 
Moreover,  the  power  of  temptation  consists  simply 
in  its  offering  us  something  that  we  desire;  and 
Jesus  desired  much  that  He  could  not  have,  if  he 
2 


l8  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

were  to  become  man's  Redeemer.  It  was  His  lot 
to  lay  aside  the  enjoyment  of  Heaven's  favor;  to 
fail  apparently  of  winning  men  to  God ;  at  least 
to  have  the  Father  hide  His  face  from  Him.  His 
temptations  lay  in  the  desire  for  those  good  things 
which  were  forbidden  Him,  and  the  very  intensity 
of  His  love  of  God  and  man  made  the  tempta- 
tions stronger.  At  any  rate  the  testimony  is 
unanimous  that  He  knew  temptation's  power. 
The  battle  in  the  wilderness  of  Judea,  the  agony 
in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  the  remark  that 
fell  from  His  lips,  **  I  have  overcome  the  world," 
sufficiently  attest  it.  This  very  writer  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  knew  it.  He  says,  "  He 
was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  with- 
out sin,"  "  In  that  He  Himself  hath  suffered 
being  tempted.  He  is  able  to  succor  them  that  are 
tempted."  The  disciples  knew  Him  too  well  to 
claim  for  Him  exemption  from  the  common  lot. 
They  saw  Him  harassed  and  oppressed,  and 
therefore  bowed  the  more  reverently  before  the 
meekness  and  gentleness,  the  purity  and  love,  the 
unselfishness  and  the  righteousness,  which  in  spite 
of  temptation  never  failed  to  manifest  themselves 
in  Jesus.  This  adds  immensely  to  our  admiration 
of  His  character.  He  was  one  of  ourselves. 
The  holiness  of  God  may  be  too  far  above  us  for 


THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 


19 


us  to  comprehend  it,  but  the  spotless  purity  of 
the  tempted  Saviour,  who  will  not  adore  ? 

Now,  once  more,  I  add  that  the  Lord  Jesus 
had  for  His  confessed  rule  of  life  a  principle  which 
naturally  made  Him  realize  keenly  the  presence 
of  sin,  even  in  its  least  apparent  forms.  He  said, 
"  My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Me  "; 
and  through  all  His  life  the  will  of  God  was  His 
law,  and  to  do  that  will  was  His  firm  resolve.  I  ask 
you  to  note  this  particularly;  for  a  man's  sense 
of  sin  depends  directly  upon  his  idea  of  what  sin 
is.  Many  people  think  that  only  crime  is  sin,  and 
because  they  have  done  no  crime  they  feel  no 
sense  of  sin.  Others  think  sin  to  be  merely  self- 
ishness, and  because  they  are  kind  and  philan- 
thropic, do  not  regard  themselves  as  seriously  at 
fault.  But  th£  Bible  teaches  that  sin  is  far  more 
than  this.  It  is  any  want  of  conformity  to  the 
will  of  God.  Man  owes  to  God  absolute  loyalty 
of  thought  and  act.  The  least  rupture  of  that 
loyalty  is  sin.  The  broader  and  deeper  our 
knowledge  of  the  will  of  God,  the  more  must  we 
feel  that  we  are  sinful.  Now  my  point  is,  that 
Jesus  was  fully  aware  of  this.  This  was  His  rule  ; 
by  this  He  judged.  And  He  gives  evidence  of 
so  broad  and  deep  a  knowledge  of  what  God's 
will  is  that  the  rule  of  His  life  made  Him  sensible 


20  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

of  sin  to  a  degree  in  comparison  with  which  our 
best  perceptions  of  it  are  as  twilight  to  high  noon. 

Yet  He  had  no  sense  of  personal  sin.  Though 
He  had  the  highest  possible  standard  by  which  to 
judge,  He  never  felt  that  the  standard  condemned 
Him.  Though  He  was  keenly  alive  to  moral  dif- 
ferences, though  He  stands  before  us  the  supreme 
Teacher  of  what  is  right,  though  He  had  for  His 
rule  of  life  the  highest  of  all  laws.  He  deliber- 
ately said,  "  I  have  overcome  the  world  ";  "  I  have 
finished  the  work  which  Thou  gavest  Me  to  do." 

Fellow-sinners,  what  a  character  is  this !  It 
defies  all  explanations  save  that  of  the  text.  A 
man,  yet  a  sinless  man !  Tempted,  but  never 
stained !  Fighting  hand  to  hand  with  evil,  but 
never  wounded  by  it !  In  the  world,  and  yet 
above  it !  Once  and  only  once  in  human  history 
has  this  spectacle  appeared. 

Permit  me,  then,  in  a  word,  to  press  upon  your 
minds  the  practical  importance  of  this  truth. 

The  moral  character  of  Jesus  is  a  sufficient  cre- 
dential of  the  truth  of  His  gospel.  He  has  other 
credentials,  but  I  bring  forward  this  to-day.  He 
is  unique.  He  is  truth  and  righteousness  incarnate. 
Therefore  His  word  must  be  authoritative  ;  His 
teaching  concerning  God  and  duty,  truth  and  sal- 
vation, must  be  our  absolute  standard.     He  guar- 


THE  SINLESS  CHRIST  21 

antees  by  His  personal  sinlessness  the  authority 
of  the  message.  What  He  declares  to  be  God's 
truth  we  must  accept  as  such.  What  He  declares 
to  be  God's  will  and  purpose  we  must  obey  and 
believe.  We  scarcely  need  other  evidence.  At 
His  feet,  mind  and  heart  should  bow. 

Further,  He  is  worthy  to  be  man's  representa- 
tive before  God.  Sinless  Himself,  He  is  a  right- 
ful priest  of  humanity.  So  our  text  says,  "  Such 
an  high  priest  became  us."  This  is  what  we  need. 
Who  but  He  can  venture  for  us  into  the  most 
holy  place  ?  Who  but  He  can  sprinkle  the  aton- 
ing blood  ?  He  is  a  priest  whose  right  to  mediate, 
history  and  conscience,  as  well  as  God,  declare. 

For  can  we  suppose  that  this  sinless  life  was 
lived  for  Himself  alone  ?  He  Himself  assures  us 
of  the  contrary.  He  came  into  the  world, — He 
did  not  belono;  to  it.  He  had  no  need  to  Hve  on 
earth  at  all.  His  express  declaration  is  that  He 
came  for  our  redemption.  If  so,  we  must  cer- 
tainly behold  in  His  sinless  life  more  even  than 
the  perfect  example  of  what  our  lives  should  be. 
It  was  the  necessary  preparation  for  the  sacrifice 
of  the  cross,  and  it  becomes  more  than  ever  pre- 
cious when  we  consider  that  it  was  part  of  the 
redemption  price  paid  for  our  deliverance.  For 
we  are  "  not  redeemed  with  corruptible  things,  as 


22  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

silver  and  gold,  but  with  the  precious  blood  of 
Christ,  as  of  a  lamb  without  blemish  and  without 
spot."  The  character  which  the  world  itself  cannot 
but  admire,  and  the  life  which  stands  forth  as  the 
great  exception  to  all  other  lives,  obtain  the  high- 
est significance  when  we  also  remember  that  God 
"  hath  made  Him  to  be  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin  ; 
that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God 
in  Him."  Well  may  we  adore  Him.  Well  may 
we  imitate  and  obey  Him.  But  above  all  else, 
well  may  we  trust  Him ;  for  He  has  won  the  right 
to  redeem  us,  and  is  able  to  save  unto  the  utter- 
most all  those  that  come  unto  God  by  Him. 


II 

THE   CRISIS   OF   A   SOUL 


II 

THE   CRISIS  OF  A   SOUL 

"  Likewise,  I  say  unto  you,  there  is  joy  in  the  presence  of  the 
angels  of  God  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth." — Luke  xv.  io. 

What  a  contrast  is  this  to  the  estimate  of  things 
which  prevails  on  earth  !  Crowds  of  human  beings, 
wild  with  enthusiasm,  toss  up  their  hats  and  make 
the  air  ring  with  their  hurrahs ;  but  it  is  for  the 
victoiy  of  their  national  arms  or  the  triumph  of 
their  political  party.  Church  bells  peal  out  their 
inspiring  strains  as  if  to  waken  man  and  nature  to 
gladness  and  thankfulness ;  but  it  is  only  for  a 
formal  festival  or  to  summon  already  devout  souls 
to  worship  God.  The  faces  that  we  gaze  on  in 
the  streets  do  not  often  indicate  much  joy  at  all ; 
but  when  they  do,  it  is  commonly  only  the  joy  of 
social  pleasure  or  commercial  success.  The  world 
is  for  the  most  part  absorbed  in  admiring  itself,  or 
the  one  part  is  absorbed  in  envying  the  other. 
Or,  if  not  so  bad  as  that,  its  joy  springs  from  the 
discovery  it  makes,  the  knowledge  it  gains,  the 
canvas  it  paints,  and  the  fortunes  it  gathers.  It  is 
not  wholly  so,  I  know.     There  are  some  who  do 

25 


26  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

show  the  heavenly  spirit  and  rejoice  in  the  prog- 
ress of  reform,  the  upHfting  of  the  lowly,  and  the 
salvation  of  the  lost  But  alas !  these  are  a  mi- 
nority. The  common  judgments  of  earth  are  quite 
different  and  utterly  forget  the  real  values  of  the 
things  which  they  applaud. 

But  the  world  of  spirits  which  looks  down  on 
this  judges  by  another  standard.  It  smiles  in  pity 
at  men's  love  of  toys  that  will  soon  be  broken. 
It  sorrows  to  see  noble  powers  prostituted  to  un- 
worthy ends.  The  pleasures  which  most  men  find 
only  awaken  sadness  in  the  angels'  hearts.  The 
world  seems  all  awry,  given  over  to  delusion,  in- 
sane with  its  self-love  and  self-applause.  These 
angelic  eyes  are  eager  to  see  other  spectacles,  and 
whenever  they  behold  a  prodigal  rising  from  his 
sins  and  setting  his  face  toward  home,  or  a  proud 
man  bending  on  his  knees  before  the  altar  and  con- 
fessing in  sincerity  the  wickedness  of  his  pride,  or 
a  sinner  of  any  kind,  convicted  of  his  sinfulness, 
and  crying,  "  God,  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner," 
then  the  song  breaks  forth  from  the  heavenly 
hosts,  and  round  the  throne  of  God  the  angels 
of  His  presence  chant  a  new  triumph  of  their 
Father  in  the  rescue  of  another  human  soul. 

This  contrast  was  part  of  the  general  reversal 
of  opinion  about  the  worth  of  things  which  Jesus 


THE  CRISIS  OF  A  SOUL  27 

taught  to  be  necessary.  He  said,  "  Many  that  are 
first  shall  be  last  and  the  last  first."  "  I  came  not 
to  call  the  righteous  but  sinners  to  repentance." 
"  How  hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God  !"  **  Blessed  are  the  poor  in 
spirit:  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
These  declarations  turn  the  popular  ideas  upside 
down.  They  precisely  reverse  the  common  judg- 
ment. Even  the  best  Christians  do  not  fully  share 
the  mind  of  Christ  upon  such  subjects,  and  the 
most  of  us  are  following  Him  a  great  way  off. 
Especially  is  it  pitiable  to  see  the  indifference  to 
moral  qualities  and  the  practical  unbelief  in  the 
danger  in  which  every  sinful  soul  stands.  We 
must  needs  pity  ourselves  that  we  can  be  so  indif- 
ferent. It  may  do  us  good,  by  helping  us  to  judge 
ourselves  more  faithfully  and  to  serve  others  more 
wisely,  to  inquire  why  there  is  joy  in  the  presence 
of  the  angels  of  God  over  one  sinner  that  repent- 
eth.  From  what  we  are  elsewhere  taught,  and 
from  what  we  may  naturally  infer,  it  is  possible  to 
give  an  answer  to  the  question,  and  it  may  let 
some  of  heaven's  light  in  upon  our  darkness. 

I.  I  suggest,  therefore,  that  in  the  presence  of 
the  angels  of  God  there  is  known  the  full  value  of 
a  human  soul.  We  do  not  reahze  the  value  of  a 
soul,  for  several  reasons.     We  think  more,  for  ex- 


28  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

ample,  of  institutions  than  of  individuals.  We  see 
that  certain  great  corporations  (as  I  may  call  them) 
appear  to  be  important  for  the  progress  of  the  race 
and  the  well-being  of  society.  The  Church  is  im- 
portant for  the  culture  of  morals ;  the  school  for 
the  discovery  of  character  and  the  attainment  of 
knowledge ;  the  State  for  the  protection  of  prop- 
erty and  the  order  of  society.  We  make  these  as 
of  first  value  and  give  them  our  zealous  support. 
What  matters  it  that  thousands  perish  on  the  field 
of  battle,  if  the  nation  be  preserved  ?  It  is  of 
more  moment,  we  are  apt  to  think,  to  advance  the 
cause  in  which  we  are  interested  than  to  stop  in  our 
career  to  give  heed  even  to  the  particular  persons 
by  whom  the  cause  is  to  be  upheld.  Men  die,  we 
say,  but  institutions  live.  The  great  ideas,  which 
are  embodied  in  them,  must  be  perpetuated,  and  if 
they  are,  the  greatest  end  has  been  accomplished. 
It  is  natural  for  us  thus  to  feel  and  argue.  It  is 
true  that,  relatively  to  the  race,  institutions  are 
more  important  than  individuals.  It  is  true  that 
the  country  is  worth  preserving  even  at  the  cost 
of  a  million  lives.  It  is  true  that,  so  far  as  our 
efforts  go,  institutions  rank  above  men.  But  we 
should  be  one-sided  and  one-half  blind  if  we  let 
this  truth  absorb  us.  For  what  is  society  but  the 
aggregation  of  individuals  ?    What  are  institutions 


THE  CRISIS  OF  A  SOUL  29 

for  but  for  the  particular  men  and  women  whom 
they  help?  In  upholding  them  we  ought  to  remem- 
ber that  their  worth  is  wholly  based  on  the  value 
of  individual  souls.  They  are  not  ends  in  them- 
selves. They  will  perish  with  the  men  that  use 
them.  We  make  great  mistakes  when  we  forget 
the  man,  in  the  machine,  or  the  soul  in  the  society. 
Heaven  does  not  make  this  blunder.  It  sees  the 
worth  of  each,  be  he  the  most  obscure.  The 
angels  know  that  in  the  ultimate  analysis  institu- 
tions exist  for  men,  not  men  for  institutions. 

Then  again,  we  are  apt  to  think  of  external 
dress  and  circumstance  rather  than  of  the  internal 
life  which  is  the  reality  of  a  man ;  of  the  fruits 
and  flowers  rather  than  of  the  root  which  bears 
them ;  of  the  gaudy  palace  rather  than  of  the 
man  who  lives  therein.  We  are  apt  to  think  rep- 
utation worth  more  than  character,  forgetting  that 
if  the  two  differ,  character  will  pierce  through  the 
husk  of  reputation  and  make  its  true  form  known. 
We  are  apt  to  think  more  of  effects  than  of  causes, 
forgetting  that  but  for  the  causes  the  effect  would 
never  have  been.  We  value  show  above  substance, 
forgetting  that  without  the  latter  the  former  will 
soon  die. 

It  does  not  require  an  angel  to  see  the  mistake 
of  all  this.     Behold  the  king  of  Babylon  walking 


30  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

among  his  palaces  and  saying,  "  Is  not  this  great 
Babylon,  that  I  have  built  by  the  might  of  my 
power  and  for  the  glory  of  my  majesty  ?" — when 
lo !  the  splendid  vision  vanishes,  and  the  dis- 
traught brain  of  the  mighty  king  makes  him  seem 
but  as  a  beast  of  the  field.  Or  behold  the  man 
whom  Jesus  pictures,  reclining  on  his  costly  couch 
and  saying,  "  Soul,  thou  hast  much  goods  laid 
up  for  many  years ;  take  thine  ease,  eat,  drink, 
and  be  merry,"  while  already  the  fatal  disease 
is  developing  within  and  the  solemn  fiat  comes, 
"  Thy  soul  shall  be  required  of  thee."  The  wor- 
ship of  externals  may  well  be  called  by  Scripture, 
madness  and  folly.  They  change  like  the  seasons. 
They  vanish  as  day  into  night.  They  are  only  the 
dress  of  human  life,  the  clothes  we  wear  for  a  lit- 
tle while,  the  house  in  which  for  a  few  years  the 
spirit  lives.  The  spirit  is  the  reality.  The  man  is 
more  than  his  raiment.  The  character  outlasts 
the  reputation,  and  the  soul  the  body. 

Heaven,  I  say,  is  not  thus  deceived.  It  sees  as 
in  panorama  the  shifting  scenes  of  human  history. 
It  sees  the  houses  of  one  generation  crumbled 
and  others  built  out  of  their  stones  ;  the  applause 
of  one  age  dying  before  the  forgetfulness  or  de- 
rision of  the  next ;  the  forms  of  human  life  melt- 
ing  into    others   like   the  scenes  of  a  dissolving 


THE  CRISIS  OF  A  SOUL  31 

picture,  while  from  the  ever-changing  spectacle 
human  spirits  emerge  into  the  light  of  the  other 
world,  bearing  with  them  none  of  the  drapery  of 
earth,  but  stamped  indelibly  with  qualities  of 
mind  and  heart  which  are  to  belong  to  them 
forever. 

We  say  that  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of 
God  there  is  known  the  worth  of  a  human  soul ; 
and  with  the  illusions  of  earth  corrected,  two 
other  facts  must  complete  that  knowledge.  The 
one  is  the  fact  of  immortality;  the  other  is  the 
capacity  of  every  soul,  as  these  must  appear  to 
them. 

To  us  the  immortality  of  the  soul  is  a  faith  ;  to 
them  it  is  a  vision  and  a  fact.  They  have  not 
known  death.  They  do  not  stand  gaping  as  we 
do  into  the  darkness  of  the  grave.  They  realize 
the  immortality  of  the  soul  as  we  cannot  do. 
They  see  its  destiny  stretch  out  into  endless 
ages.  By  reason  of  the  little  span  of  man's 
earthly  existence  we,  on  the  other  hand,  fail  to 
feel  this  authority,  and  because  our  faith  in  im- 
mortality is  a  faith  and  not  a  realization  of  it, 
it  is  hard  to  feel  the  lessons  which  it  teaches. 
It  is  difficult  to  believe  in  the  supreme  worth  of 
that  which  perishes  from  our  sight  after  so  short 
a  term  of  being.     MateriaHsm  cannot  believe  in 


32  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

the  value  of  single  lives.  But  heaven  knows 
the  truth.  Angelic  spirits  know  that  spirits  do 
not  perish.  They  see  that  while  the  physical 
universe  passes  away,  the  souls  which  God  has 
made  He  has  made  to  live  forever.  They  see 
that  the  future  gives  no  promise  of  an  end  to 
any  person.  It  is  not  an  immortality  of  man 
that  they  see,  but  of  men,  each  preserving  his 
own  for  everlasting  ages.  It  is  not  the  immor- 
tality of  spirit  that  they  see,  but  of  spirits.  Per- 
sonality is  immortal ;  and  as  they  gaze  on  this 
crowded  world  they  realize  that  every  human 
being  will  continue  to  exist  when  the  entire  frame- 
work of  nature  shall  have  changed  its  form,  and 
when  myriads  of  millenniums  shall  have  passed 
by. 

But  more,  they  realize  the  capacity  as  well  as 
the  immortality  of  the  soul.  Immortality  with- 
out capacity  would  amount  to  nothing.  It  would 
be  the  immortality  of  an  animal.  It  is  the  capac- 
ity of  the  soul  which  makes  its  immortality  so 
full  of  significance.  The  spirits  of  the  better 
world  realize  the  capacity  of  the  soul  from  what 
they  themselves  possess.  A  man  who  has  a 
trained  intellect,  who  has  thought  much  and 
suffered  some,  who  has  known  the  world  by 
observation    and    experience,    looks    at    a   little 


THE  CRISIS^OF  A  SOUL  33 

child  with  half  sorrowful,  half  envious  thought, 
as  he  reflects  on  the  child's  capacity  for  what 
it  yet  knows  nothing  of.  He  wonders  to  what 
use  these  latent  powers  will  be  put.  He  won- 
ders what  bitter  sorrows  the  young,  blooming 
mind  will  feel ;  what  marvelous  thoughts  will  rise 
in  that  fertile  brain ;  for  his  own  experience  of 
life  has  taught  him  of  what  the  mind  of  man 
is    capable. 

How  much  more  must  they  know  who  enjoy 
powers  that  we  have  not,  but  which  we  shall 
surely  have ;  and  to  whom  the  now  dormant 
or  budding  capacity  of  the  human  soul  is  seen 
to  contain  infinite  promises  and  pledges  !  They 
know  the  soul's  capacity  for  happiness  through 
the  attainment  of  a  perfectly  moral  life  and  of 
the  rapture  which  thrills  themselves.  They  know 
its  capacity  for  knowledge,  of  which  the  glimmer- 
ings of  earthly  scene  and  thought  give  trivial 
foregleams.  They  know,  too,  its  capacity  for 
suffering,  and  that  the  bitter  trials  of  earth  are 
a  solemn  warning  to  it  of  what,  through  greater 
losses  and  more  bitter  effects,  it  may  endure. 
They  know,  in  short,  its  capacity  for  growth 
that  gives  it  supreme  importance.  They  know 
that  it  can  rise  to  God  and  join  with  themselves 
in    His  happy   and    glorious  service. 

3 


34  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

Therefore  I  say  they  know  the  value  of  a  soul. 
What  we  imagine,  they  see.  What  we  try  to  be- 
lieve in,  they  behold  as  fact.  On  the  soul  of  man 
these  heavenly  watchers  and  messengers  fix  their 
eye, — not  on  his  rank  or  his  wealth,  not  on  his 
body  or  his  circumstances,  but  on  his  soul,  his 
personal  inner  life,  his  consciousness,  for  in  that 
is  the  germ  of  his  everlasting  destiny. 

2.  This  being  so,  I  suggest  further  that  in  the 
presence  of  the  angels  of  God  there  is  known  the 
curse  which  sin  brings  to  any  soul  under  its 
power.  To  feel  the  curse  of  sin  we,  unfortunately, 
have  to  see  it  in  its  most  revolting  forms.  We 
have  to  look  at  the  drunkard  in  the  gutter  or  at 
the  home  made  desolate  by  the  crimes  of  one 
member  of  the  household.  Even  then  we  are 
inclined  to  half  extenuate  it.  Perhaps  we  con- 
sider it  simply  disease.  But  the  higher  we  our- 
selves rise  in  moral  life  the  more  clearly  do  w^e 
see  its  baleful  powers,  its  deep  roots,  its  clinging 
fetters,  its  essential  character ;  until  at  last  we 
are  convinced  that  the  Bible  was  not  wrong  in 
describincr  under  this  name  something;  which  is 
real  and  universal  among  men,  and  which  con- 
stitutes the  fatal  source  of  all  man's  woes.  But 
in  what  a  light  must  sin,  in  even  its  mildest  form, 
appear  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God  ! 


THE  CRISIS  OF  A  SOUL 


35 


They  know,  for  example,  the  mind  of  God 
Himself  upon  the  subject  and  the  principle  of 
His  government.  Matters  which  to  us  are  ques- 
tions of  revelation  are  as  plain  as  day  to  them. 
They  are  hke  statesmen  who  know  the  will  of  the 
sovereign  and  have  made  a  study  of  govern- 
ment. They  see  the  whole  extent  of.  the  prob- 
lem which  sin  presents  to  the  moral  government 
of  God.  They  realize  that  if  He  were  not  to  pun- 
ish it.  His  empire  would  fall  to  pieces.  They  know 
the  extent  of  that  empire,  the  necessity  of  uphold- 
ing truth  and  righteousness  throughout  all  the 
worlds  which  constitute  it,  and  that  the  moral 
Governor  of  the  universe  cannot  permit  rebellion 
to  go  unpunished  in  any  of  His  creatures.  We 
think  it  does  not  make  much  difference,  that  God 
can  easily  overlook  such  matters,  that  no  great 
consequence  will  follow  if  we  do  transgress.  So 
we  often  do  in  offences  against  human  govern- 
ment, and  perhaps  thoughtlessly  appeal  to  the 
pardoning  power  to  release  a  criminal.  Ikit  the 
magistrate  and  his  advisers  know  that  if  law  be 
not  enforced  it  will  fall  into  contempt,  and  that 
the  integrity  of  the  State  rests  upon  its  sanctity. 

So  a  child  will  fancy  that  disobedience  to  pa- 
rental law  is  a  matter  of  small  consequence.  It 
may  relate  to  but  a  trifling  affair  and  the  father's 


36  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

punishment  may  appear  unduly  harsh.  But  the 
parent  knows  that  the  principle  of  obedience  must 
be  upheld,  both  for  the  sake  of  the  offender  and 
for  that  of  the  family.  If  it  be  despised,  the 
child  will  go  from  bad  to  worse,  character  will  be 
ruined,  and  the  home  wrecked.  So,  I  say,  heaven 
knows  the  necessity  of  God's  punishing  sin.  It 
may  weep  over  the  offenders ;  it  may  long  to 
save  them ;  but  it  sees  clearly  that  God's  govern- 
ment and  God's  nature  require  that  sin,  in  any 
form,  should  meet  its  penalty. 

Moreover,  the  joy  which  the  angels  have  in 
their  holy  life  must  make  them  realize  the  horrible 
effects  of  sin.  What  loathing  a  pure  mind  feels 
for  rank  and  black  impurity !  Let  any  man  of 
noble  character  come  into  close  contact  with  a  de- 
graded, polluted,  sin-defiled  wretch,  and  though 
he  may  long  to  save  him,  he  cannot  help  turning 
in  abhorrence  from  the  spectacle  itself.  Or,  when 
a  man  has  risen  from  the  mire  of  shameful  deeds 
and  by  dint  of  diligent  self  mastery  and  fellowship 
with  Christ  has  attained  a  better  life,  with  what 
disgust  will  he  look  back  upon  the  slough  in 
which  he  once  wallowed !  As  we  rise  in  charac- 
ter we  see  the  baseness  of  that  which  is  below  us. 
As  the  tastes  become  refined  we  shudder  that  any 
debasing  appetite  is  possible.     Out  of  the  joy  of  a 


THE  CRISIS  OF  A  SOUL  37 

pure,  sweet  and  holy,  and  intelligent  mind,  we  see 
the  wretchedness  of  ignorance  and  crime.  So 
must  the  angels  of  heaven  feel.  By  the  joy  which 
they  have  in  holiness,  must  they  perceive  the  vile- 
ness  of  wrong,  the  depravity  of  sin,  the  misery  and 
sorrow  which  are  the  dregs  of  the  sinner's  cup. 

Hence,  I  say,  they  know  the  curse  of  sin. 
Knowing  the  value  of  a  soul,  they  know  the 
awfulness  of  its  position,  if  it  be  a  sinful  soul. 
Take  any  poor,  degraded,  battered  specimen  of 
humanity  that  you  see  arrested  on  the  street 
and  hurried  to  the  police  station;  and  what  will 
be  your  feeling  i(  in  it  you  recognize  a  member 
of  a  well-known,  cultured  family,  who  began  life 
with  bright  hopes  and  fine  abilities,  and  whose 
downward  course  has  been  the  breaking  of  noble 
hearts  ?  Your  thoughts  will  help  you  to  understand 
the  thoughts  with  which  pure  spirits  of  the  better 
world  look  down  on  earth.  They  know  the  love 
of  God,  for  they  enjoy  it  themselves  and  under- 
stand what  grief  the  sinner  causes  to  his  Father. 
They  know  the  principles  of  God's  government, 
and  understand  that  even  though  He  love  He 
must  punish  the  rebeUious.  They  see  the  deepen- 
ing degradation  of  sin,  the  sinking  of  the  soul  into 
blacker  depths.  They  see  eternity  waiting  to 
carry  out  the  sentence  and  to  intensify  the  stain, 


38  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

immortality  itself  threatening  to  become  a  curse, 
and  the  very  capacity  of  the  soul  only  promising 
keener  misery  and  unrelieved  disgrace.  Oh,  could 
we  see  ourselves  as  Jesus  says  the  heavenly  spirits 
see  us,  how  abashed  we  should  be  at  the  spectacle, 
and  what  a  different  estimate  we  too  would  take 
of  the  real  reasons  for  rejoicing  which  may  be 
found  in  this  imperiled  and  distraught  world ! 

3.  But  by  the  considerations  which  I  have  sug- 
gested, we  may  now  enter  fully  into  the  Saviour's 
meaning  when  he  said,  ''  There  is  joy  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  angels  of  God  over  one  sinner  that 
repenteth."  For  repentance  is  the  crisis  of  a  soul. 
See  what  it  implies. 

It  means  that  a  man  has  wakened  up  to  a  sense 
of  his  moral  danger.  A  glimmering  of  the  light 
in  which  the  angels  live  has  reached  his  mind. 
He  has  roused  himself  from  the  lethargy  and  in- 
difference in  which  he  has  formerly  lived.  His 
eyes  have  been  opened.  He  sees  the  immorality 
of  sin,  the  godlessness  of  it,  and  by  his  un- 
destroyed  faith  in  an  almighty  God  he  knows  him- 
self to  be  in  danger.  He  has  been  like  a  man 
sound  asleep  in  a  burning  house,  dreaming  peace- 
fully of  his  wealth  and  his  luxurious  home,  with 
pleasant  visions  flitting  before  his  mind,  the 
shadows  of  the  still  higher  realities  which  he  had 


THE  CRISIS  OF  A  SOUL  39 

thought  himself  to  possess,  and  then  is  wakened 
roughly  and  suddenly  to  discover  that  his  house 
is  on  fire,  and  his  life  in  danger.  Discoveries  like 
this  come  to  a  man  with  the  authority  of  a  reve- 
lation. He  can  hardly  tell  how  or  why  they  come, 
but  come  they  do,  and  with  their  coming  all  life 
changes  its  appearance.  The  mind  wakes  up. 
Old  truth  takes  new  power.  Formal  faiths  become 
intense  convictions.  Such  a  discovery  is  implied 
in  a  man's  repentance,  and  if  the  moral  peril  of  a 
sinner  be  real,  as  Jesus  says  it  is,  the  first  step  to 
safety  consists  in  seeing  it. 

Then  repentance  means  that  a  man,  being 
awakened  to  his  danger,  has  had  a  debate  within 
his  soul  concerning  sin  and  righteousness.  He 
may  see  his  danger  and  yet  not  fly  from  it. 
Some  men  take  fearful  risks.  They  deliberately 
do  wrong  in  the  face  of  undeniable  consequences. 
He  who  repents  has  done  more.  He  has  seriously 
debated  within  himself  what  he  should  do  in 
view  of  his  discovered  danger,  and  in  that  debate 
his  soul  has  stood  at  the  crisis  of  his  existence. 
I  think  that  to  watch  a  man  at  such  a  crisis  is 
more  intensely  interesting  than  any  scene  in  any 
chapter  of  human  history  can  be.  Behold  him ! 
It  is  an  immortal  mind  grappling  with  the  ques- 
tion of  its  moral  duty,  and,  by  consequence,  of 


40  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

its  moral  character !  But  though  immortal  it 
is  not  wholly  free.  It  has  long  been  used  to  sin. 
It  is  fettered  by  evil  habits.  Its  sight  of  divine 
realities  is  dim.  But  it  is  deciding  the  supreme 
question  of  its  being.  Before  it  the  two  parties 
appear  which  contest  the  loyalty  of  every  man. 
Conscience  utters  its  imperious  voice.  Desire 
speaks  in  soft,  luxurious  tones.  God  calls ;  sin 
pleads.  Reason  is  divided.  The  will  hesitates. 
Arguments  rise  from  the  depths  of  the  pit  clothed 
in  fair  words  and  specious  doubts.  Counter- 
arguments descend  from  heaven  to  meet  them, 
and  on  the  debate  hangs  the  question  of  the 
eodliness  or  the  continued  sinfulness  of  the  soul. 
Does  this  not  seem  to  you  a  thrilling  moment, 
when  a  soul  has  resting  upon  it  the  responsi- 
bility of  its  future  and  hangs  in  the  balance  of 
its  judgment?  The  mere  fact  that  such  an  ex- 
perience is  possible  proves  the  soul  to  be  greater 
than  all  of  nature  and  in  its  essence  akin  to  God, 
and  the  debate  is  more  momentous  than  any 
other,  though  it  be  held  in  the  forum  of  the  most 
obscure  life. 

But  repentance  means  still  more.  It  means 
that  the  soul  has  felt  not  only  its  danger  but 
also  the  wickedness  of  its  sin.  There  is  a  great 
difference  between  the  two.    No  man  repents  who 


THE  CRISIS  OF  A  SOUL  41 

merely  flies  from  danger.  Repentance  means 
sorrow  for  having  acted  as  we  have  ;  condemna- 
tion of  our  past  principles ;  regret  based  not  on 
expediency  or  fear,  but  on  conscience.  But  when 
a  man  thus  condemns  sin  in  himself,  he  shows 
a  better  nature  already  appearing.  The  divine 
Spirit  is  also  working  in  him.  His  better  self, 
his  immortal  conscience,  is  asserting  itself  In 
his  self-condemnation  he  is  coming  to  himself 
The  experience  is  mortifying.  It  may  be  attended 
with  upbraidings  for  the  past  and  fears  for  the 
future.  But  it  is  the  demonstration  of  life.  It 
proves  him  to  be  not  yet  lost.  In  the  sorrow  for 
sin  because  it  is  sin  we  see  the  soul  already  be- 
coming renewed  and  testifying  to  its  divine  son- 
ship. 

Now,  finally,  repentance  means  that  having 
been  thus  awakened  to  the  danger  and  the 
wickedness  of  sin  and  having  debated  the  ques- 
tion between  God  and  his  enemy,  the  soul  has 
turned  from  sin,  has  condemned  itself  and  its 
former  master,  has  believed  that  God  for  Christ's 
sake  will  forgive  and  receive  him,  and  has  humbly 
turned  to  Him,  again  resolved  to  sin  no  more. 
This  is  the  climax  of  the  crisis.  Belief  must 
come,  belief  in  God's  forgiveness,  belief  in  God's 
willingness    to    help    it   to  a  better  life,  belief  in 


42  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

Christ  as  God's  anointed  Saviour  for  the  sinner. 
The  immortal  soul  turns  again  toward  home. 
The  prodigal  rises  and  says,  **  I  will  go  to  my 
Father."  The  leper  falls  at  His  feet,  exclaiming, 
"  If  Thou  wilt,  Thou  canst  make  me  clean." 

There  is  joy  for  angels  and  men  in  such  a  sight. 
It  means  that  the  lost  child  wants  to  feel  his 
Father's  kiss,  that  the  immortal  spirit  of  man  is  re- 
turning from  its  wanderings,  and  that  another  soul 
is  saved.  Oh,  what  are  the  victories  of  martial 
valor  compared  with  such  a  victory  as  this  !  What 
are  the  works  of  genius  compared  with  this  work 
of  grace  !  What  emancipation  can  be  compared 
with  this  emancipation  of  an  immortal  soul !  The 
Father  cries,  *'  Bring  forth  the  best  robe,  and  put 
it  on  him  ;  .  .  .  for  this  my  son  .  .  .  was  lost, 
and  is  found."  No  wonder  Jesus  says,  "  There 
is  joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God  over 
one  (aye,  over  even  one)  sinner  that  repenteth," 
for  the  crisis  of  an  immortal  soul  has  been  turned, 
and  the  decision  is  for  God. 

There  is  scarcely  need  of  any  application  of 
this  subject,  yet  I  would  have  you  who  are  Chris- 
tians learn  from  it  to  seek  with  new  zeal  and 
interest  the  salvation  of  your  fellow-men.  Warn 
them  of  their  peril.  Press  the  debate  upon  them. 
Point   to   them    the    sinfulness    of  sin.     Do   not 


liiE  CRISIS  Ot^  A  SOUL  43 

play  the  role  of  the  prodigal's  elder  brother, 
but  realize  as  angels  do  the  value  of  a  soul,  the 
glory  of  a  sinner's  repentance. 

I  would  make  a  direct  appeal  to  every  one 
who  is  unreconciled  to  God.  You  must  repent. 
You  must  face  the  question  whether  you  will 
belong  to  God  or  to  sin.  You  are  a  sinner  in 
God's  sight.  You  need  a  new  heart,  new  princi- 
ples to  live  by,  new  hopes  of  the  hereafter.  There 
are  blessed  spirits  waiting  your  decision.  Christ 
Himself  waits  for  it.  On  you  I  cast  the  responsi- 
bility of  making  it.  If  you  have  any  faith  in  im- 
mortality, any  sense  of  what  your  souls  are  capa- 
ble, any  conception  of  the  curse  and  ruin  which 
sin  is  working  in  you  ;  if  you  have  any  ear  to 
hear  the  words  of  the  Son  of  God,  "  I  came  to 
call  sinners  to  repentance,"  I  pray  you,  while  you 
may,  to  heed  His  summons  and  ask  forgiveness 
from  your  God.  "  If  we  confess  our  sins,  He  is 
faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to 
cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness." 


Ill 

CONFESSING   CHRIST 


Ill 

CONFESSING  CHRIST 

"  Also  I  say  unto  you,  Whosoever  shall  confess  Me  before  men, 

him  shall  the  Son  of  man  also  confess  before  the  angels  of  God." 
— Luke  xii.  8. 

We  find  this  expression,  or  one  like  it,  falling 
several  times  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
and  more  particularly  as  the  opposition  to  Him 
increased  and  the  critical  period  of  His  life  drew 
near.  He  evidently  felt  it  necessary  to  draw 
out  by  means  of  public  confession  the  vague, 
latent  faith  of  such  of  His  followers  as  might  be 
true  disciples.  For  He  was  forming  the  nucleus 
of  His  future  Church.  He  did  not  expect  to  erect 
His  kingdom  while  He  was  in  the  flesh.  He 
knew  that  the  little  company  of  believers  would 
be  the  agents  by  whom  He  would  work  His 
triumph.  Hence  to  commit  them  fully  to  His 
cause  was  an  object  of  prime  importance.  It 
was  not  enough  to  go  to  Him  by  night,  with 
a  half-doubting  faith,  and  say,  "  We  know  that 
Thou  art  a  teacher  come  from  God."  Nicodemus 
must   face  the  Sanhedrin    itself  and   confess    his 

47 


48  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

faith.  It  was  not  enough  to  follow  with  the 
crowd  that  thronged  His  journeys  through 
Galilee.  It  was  not  enough  to  question  with 
one's  self,  "  Who  is  He  ?"  and  "  Is  not  this  the 
Christ  ?"  or  to  seek  from  His  beneficent  touch 
healing  for  the  body.  All  this  interest  and  en- 
thusiasm would  melt  before  the  first  heat  of 
persecution  like  wax  before  the  sun.  It  would 
not  stand  the  strain  of  His  absence.  It  was  too 
selfish,  too  ignorant,  too  worldly.  There  must 
be  gathered  a  band  of  public  confessors  to  be 
taught  and  consecrated  if  the  cause  of  Jesus 
was  to  advance  to  the  salvation  of  the  world. 

Yet  we  can  appreciate  the  difficulty  of  such 
a  public  avowal  at  that  time.  The  Saviour  was 
so  different  from  what  tradition  and  custom 
had  expected  in  the  Christ.  The  opposition  of 
the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees,  to  whom  the 
nation  had  been  wont  to  look  for  religious 
guidance,  was  pronounced  against  Him.  His 
own  life,  too,  seemed  shrouded  in  mystery  and 
leading  into  darkness.  He  did  not  explain  all 
His  ideas.  To  follow  Him  was  like  entering  on 
an  unknown  way.  He  Himself  plainly  intimated 
that  it  would  lead  through  peril  and  perhaps 
to  death.  There  was  truly  need  that  He  should 
set  over  against  this  requirement  of  public  con- 


CONFESSING  CHRIST  49 

fession  the  glowing  promise  recorded  in  our 
text.  The  Saviour  felt  this,  and  hence  connected 
salvation  itself  with  open  confession  of  His 
name. 

He  did  not,  of  course,  mean  thereby  the  mere 
confession  of  the  lips.  He  did  not  ask  for  the 
huzzahs  of  the  multitude,  such  as  were  heard 
later  on  when  He  crossed  Olivet  in  triumph. 
The  confession  of  Judas  was  as  little  a  real  con- 
fession as  the  denial  of  Peter  was  a  real  denial. 
He  meant  such  a  confession  as  the  leper's,  when 
he  knelt  at  His  feet,  saying,  "  Lord  if  Thou 
wilt  Thou  canst  make  me  clean  " ;  such  as  the 
woman's,  who,  in  Simon's  house,  anointed  Him 
with  her  precious  ointment ;  such  as  that  of 
Bartimaeus,  the  man  that  was  born  blind  ;  such 
as  Peter's — *'  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
the  living  God " — to  which  Jesus  answered, 
"  Upon  this  rock  I  will  build  My  Church."  Such 
a  confession  made  under  such  circumstances  was 
^he  very  voice  of  God  Himself  in  the  human 
heart  witnessing  to  His  Son, — and  of  such  it 
was  that  Jesus  said,  "  Whosoever  shall  confess 
Me  before  men,  him  shall  the  Son  of  man  also 
confess    before    the    angels    of  God." 

We  are  presented,  therefore,  with  the  duty 
and  privilege  of  confessing  Christ  before  men. 
4 


50  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

Change  of  circumstances  has  not  made  the  duty 
less  urgent  nor  taken  away  the  promise.  Indeed 
we  can  hardly  say  that  the  circumstances  have 
changed.  The  world  is  no  less  now  than  then 
hostile  in  spirit  to  the  Son  of  man.  The  tradi- 
tions and  customs  of  daily  life,  and  many  of  the 
world's  most  famous  men,  are  as  pronounced  in 
opposition  to  Him  as  were  the  Pharisees  of  old. 
To  follow  Jesus  still  seems  often  like  entering 
on  an  unknown  and  perilous  way.  Therefore 
the  need  of  open,  positive,  avowed,  committed, 
consecrated  faith  is  as  great  as  ever,  and  we  have 
no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  words  of  our  text 
are  as  truly  directed  to  the  men  of  this  day  and 
place  as  to  the  half-interested,  half-doubting  mul- 
titude to  which  they  were  first  spoken. 

I.  I  would  hke  you  to  observe  with  me  the 
object  we  are  required  to  confess :  "  Whosoever 
shall  confess  Md'  So  we  read  wherever  the 
phrase  occurs ;  and  it  is  a  fair  example  of  the  de- 
mands which  Jesus  always  made  on  His  disciples. 
I  need  not  remind  you  that  the  burden  of  Christ's 
teaching  was  about  Himself;  not,  indeed,  to  ex- 
plain to  His  hearers  the  mystery  of  His  own  be- 
ing, or  to  show  them  how  He  could  be  both  Son 
of  God  and  Son  of  man, — that  doubtless  is  a  prob- 
lem which  we  could  not   understand  even  if  He 


CONFESSING  CHRIST 


51 


explained  it  to  us, — but  so  to  work  miracles  and 
lay  down  doctrines,  live  in  obedience  to  God, 
and,  withal,  to  drop  such  expressions  about  Him- 
self and  His  origin  and  His  destiny,  that  His 
hearers  would  feel  that  the  thing  which  He 
wanted  them  to  do  was  simply  to  believe  on  Him 
as  the  Saviour  and  obey  and  serve  Him.  It  is 
most  remarkable  how  Jesus  maintained,  through- 
out, this  position.  Other  men  publish  systems 
of  truth  and  ask  that  we  shall  follow  their  dem- 
onstrations and  accept  their  conclusions.  Others 
still  declare  themselves  advocates  and  representa- 
tives of  a  cause,  and  ask  that  we  should  join 
with  them  on  the  ground  of  its  inherent  justice. 
But  Jesus  put  Himself  forward  as  the  object  of 
men's  faith.  He  said,  "I  am  the  truth."  He  said, 
**  I  am  the  way  and  the  life."  By  so  doing  He 
proclaimed  Himself  more  than  a  teacher  sent 
from  God,  more  than  a  Moses  or  a  Joshua  sent 
to  lead  mankind  into  the  promised  land.  He 
said  in  effect,  "  I  am  the  promised  land.  I  am 
the  truth  itself."  The  proud  French  king,  tramp- 
ling under  his  heel  the  liberties  of  his  country, 
exclaimed,  "  I  am  the  state."  Here,  without 
the  pride,  but  with  greater  dignity,  not  in  the 
spirit  of  egotism,  but  because  in  this  universe 
all  things   that  are  good  and  true  are  embodied 


52  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

in  God,  and  because  man's  highest  duty  is  to 
obey  God,  Jesus,  who  was  God  manifest  in  the 
flesh,  said,  "  I  am  the  Hght  of  the  world  :  he  that 
followeth  Me  shall  not  walk  in  darkness,  but  shall 
have  the  light  of  life."  "  This  is  the  condemna- 
tion, that  light  is  come  into  the  world,  and  men 
loved  darkness  rather  than  Hght,  because  their 
deeds  were  evil."  "  Whosoever  shall  confess  Me 
before  men,  him  shall  the  Son  of  man  also  con- 
fess  before  the   angels   of  God." 

But  while  we  can  easily  recognize  this  fact  in 
the  earthly  life  of  Christ,  it  is  continually  forgotten 
so  far  as  the  present  duties  of  this  world  are  con- 
cerned, and  I  would  like  to  impress  on  you  again 
the  simple  object  of  true  Christian  confession. 
You  will  see  what  is  meant  by  reflecting  that  we 
are  not  asked  to  confess  a  human  creed  or  a  the- 
ology. It  is  indeed  inevitable  that  every  thinking 
believer  will  have  more  or  less  of  a  theology  and 
some  kind  of  a  creed.  I  suppose  the  opposite 
would  be  to  presume  mental  stagnation.  It  would 
imply  that  faith  is  the  destruction  of  thought, 
whereas,  on  the  contrary,  faith  is  a  new  starting 
point  for  thought.  It  raises  new  questions  and  it 
puts  us  in  the  right  attitude  to  answer  at  least  some 
of  them.  I  do  not  see  how  an  intelligent  believer 
can  help  having  some  kind  of  a  theology.     His 


CONFESSING  CHRIST  53 

confidence  in  Christ  will  compel  him  to  take  cer- 
tain views  of  God  and  of  his  own  soul,  which  will 
develop  as  he  thinks  and  grows,  and  which  will 
also  tend  to  a  more  or  less  definite  creed.  Hence 
we  should  find  no  fault  with  the  Church  for  having 
a  theology  and  for  producing  creeds.  These  are 
but  the  result  of  her  study  of  the  divine  word, 
the  product  of  the  attacks  to  which  she  has  been 
exposed  and  the  periods  of  growth  through  which 
she  has  passed.  We  believe,  moreover,  that  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  is  with  His  people,  still  guiding 
them  into  all  truth  ;  and  that  with  the  progress  of 
time  clearer  views  of  God's  revelation  have  been 
and  may  be  expected  to  be  enjoyed. 

Yet  salvation  does  not  hinge  upon  this  fact. 
Not  all  can  carry  out  consequences  logically.  Not 
all  will  draw  the  same  inferences.  So  the  divine 
Master  leads  us  back  to  the  fountain  head  and  bids 
us  drink  of  its  pure  waters.  Our  faith  is  funda- 
mentally and  only  faith  in  Him,— and  our  con- 
fession is  the  confession  of  Him.  We  simply  say 
with  Peter,  "  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
living  God."  We  say  with  John,  "Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world."  If  we  do  this  sincerely,  we  have  in  us  the 
substance  of  Christianity.  If  we  confess  this  we 
draw  the  line  distinctly  between  belief  and  unbelief. 


54  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

We  ought  to  introduce  here  a  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  we  must  have  definite  views  about 
Christ.  We  cannot  beheve  Him  a  mere  man — 
only  such  views  as  are  consistent  with  loving  Him, 
not  only,  but  trusting  to  His  present  power  and 
authority.  We  accept  righteousness  as  our  law, 
God  as  our  Father,  God's  power  as  our  hope, 
God's  revelation  as  our  light.  We  ought  not, 
indeed,  to  do  this  with  the  idea  that  nothing  else 
is  to  be  believed,  unless  indeed  we  are  willing  not 
only  to  enter  the  kingdom  as  children  but  also  to 
remain  "babes  in  Christ"  forever.  We  are  to 
strive  after  deeper  and  wider  Christian  knowledge. 
But  with  that  fine  perception  of  the  needs  of  hu- 
man life  which  Jesus  always  showed  He  presented 
Himself  alone  the  germ,  the  foundation,  the 
fountain  head  of  Christianity,  and  claimed  from 
mankind  loyal  confession  of  faith  in  Him. 

So,  on  the  other  hand,  we  are  not  asked  to  pro- 
fess personal  goodness.  Here  again  we  should 
make  a  similar  caution  to  that  which  pertains  to 
the  matter  of  belief.  For  acceptance  of  Christ  is 
the  germ  of  holiness.  It  is  the  turning  point  of 
a  man's  character,  from  which  he  ever  journeys 
nearer  to  his  God.  The  Lord  did  not  by  any 
means  intend  to  hinge  salvation  on  mere  belief 
apart   from    its    effect    on   the  heart.     Your  faith 


CONFESSING  CHRIST 


55 


is  a  moral  as  well  as  an  intellectual  act.  It  is  the 
foundation  of  love  to  God,  of  likeness  to  God,  of 
that  holiness  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the 
Lord.  So  it  is  described  by  the  apostles  as  fiith 
which  purifies  the  heart  and  overcomes  the  world. 
Let  a  man  accept  and  follow  Christ  and  he  must 
be  led  to  God.  We  utterly  repudiate  the  idea 
that  men  will  be  saved  whether  they  are  bad  or 
good,  if  only  they  believe,  or  that  it  is  possible 
for  a  conscious  hypocrite  to  find  his  way  through 
the  pearly  gates.  But  from  this  it  does  not  follow 
that  in  confessing  Christ  we  confess  our  own  good- 
ness. Quite  the  contrary.  We  confess  our  sin- 
fulness, which  needs  the  atoning  blood  of  the  Son 
of  God.  We  confess  our  helplessness,  which  needs 
the  power  of  Jesus  to  make  us  like  Himself  We 
confess  that  we  are  poor  and  miserable  and  blind, 
that  we  are  sinners  by  nature  and  by  act,  but, 
resting  on  His  promise,  we  believe  that  Christ  is 
able  and  willing  to  save  all  those  that  come  unto 
God  by  Him. 

Thus,  you  see,  the  confession  demanded  is 
neither  the  assertion  of  great  knowledge  nor  of 
great  goodness.  It  neither  claims  to  understand 
mysteries  nor  to  have  reached  the  goal  of  charac- 
ter. It  has  nothing  of  the  spirit  of  the  Pharisee 
in  it.    It  does  not  say,  "  God,  I  thank  Thee,  that  I 


56  HE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

am  not  as  other  men  are."  It  is  the  humblest 
thing  in  the  world,  all  the  humbler  as  it  is  more 
sincere.  It  is  the  cry  of  the  publican,  "  God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  But  it  fastens  itself 
upon  Christ  as  the  Rock  of  safety,  the  God-built 
fortress  for  imperiled  souls,  the  sacrifice  for  sin, 
and  then  proclaims,  "  He  is  my  confidence  and 
my  hope." 

Let  me  pause  here  to  emphasize  this  truth. 
The  Church  labors  under  the  continual  imputa- 
tion of  the  world,  that  it  professes  to  know  more 
than  it  does  and  to  be  better  than  it  is.  Men  are 
held  off  from  its  communion  by  their  unwilling- 
ness to  make  any  profession  of  character  or  by 
the  sense  of  their  own  ignorance.  We  are  told 
that  the  inconsistencies  of  Christians  shame  their 
profession.  In  one  sense  they  do,  but  in  another 
they  do  not.  If  it  be  meant  that  the  Christian 
claims  to  be  above  inconsistencies,  then  certainly 
the  objection  is  false  and  vain.  I  have  no  wish  to 
excuse  the  faults  of  believers.  We  all  are  ready  to 
exclaim,  "  We  have  strayed  from  Thy  ways  like 
lost  sheep."  But  when  we  see  men  smothering 
their  faith,  and  holding  in  check  their  better  im- 
pulses, letting  themselves  be  counted  with  the 
world  when  they  ought  to  be  counted  with  the 
Church,  then,  indeed,  we  feel  like  reminding  them 


CONFESSING  CHRIST  57 

that  they  also  are  required,  as  the  condition  of 
Christ's  salvation  of  them,  to  confess  Him  before 
men.  You  are  asked  for  no  confession  of 
theology,  important  as  a  creed  may  be,  and  I 
like  to  think  that  our  Church,  while  she  is  sup- 
posed to  lay  much  stress  on  her  doctrine,  opens 
in  a  truly  Christlike  way  her  portals  to  the  world, 
asking  not  even  adherence  to  her  own  particular 
doctrines,  but  simply  asking  genuine  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ.  You  are  asked  for  no  profession 
of  goodness,  important  as  it  is  to  be  good,  but 
you  are  asked  to  confess  Christ  as  your  Lord  and 
Saviour.  That  is  enough  to  begin  with.  It  puts 
you  on  God's  side.  It  puts  you  on  the  side  of 
holiness.  If  it  be  genuine,  it  means  an  utter 
change  of  the  natural  bent  of  your  wills.  It 
means  a  religious  life,  based  on  trust  in  Jesus  as 
your  only  and  all-sufficient  Saviour. 

Here  are  two  candidates.  Your  suffrage  can 
show  your  political  views.  Here  are  two  theories 
of  life.  Your  adherence  to  the  one  or  the  other 
shows  the  moral  state  of  your  soul.  It  is  the  old 
choice  between  Jehovah  and  Baal ;  between  God 
and  evil ;  between  Christ  and  the  world.  With 
marvelous  simplicity,  and  yet  with  a  skill  which 
always  anticipated  the  final  judgment,  Jesus  put 
Himself  forth   as   the    object    of  our    confession, 


58  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

knowing  well  that  if  a  man  honestly  confesses 
Him,  that  man  is  already  on  the  way  to  all  truth 
and  to  all  holiness. 

2.  So  much  for  the  object  of  this  confession  ; 
let  me  call  your  attention  next  to  the  manner  of 
it.  This  is  given  us  in  the  words  "  before  men." 
In  other  words,  it  is  to  be  in  public.  This  is 
absolutely  essential  to  it.  Otherwise  it  would  be 
no  confession  at  all.  This  is  the  difference  be- 
tween faith  and  confession.  The  latter  is  the 
expression  of  the  former.  The  very  point  before 
us  is  that  we  are  not  to  hide  the  truth  away  in 
our  hearts  nor  whisper  it  under  our  breath  in 
prayer,  are  not  to  cherish  one  principle  in  our 
souls  and  publish  another  with  our  lips.  ''  No 
man,"  said  Jesus,  "  when  he  hath  lighted  a  candle, 
putteth  it  in  a  secret  place,  neither  under  a  bushel, 
but  on  a  candlestick,  that  they  which  come  in 
may  see  the  light."  He  seems  to  imply  by  this 
form  of  expression  that  in  religious  matters  men 
are  guilty  of  just  such  folly.  Not  a  few  lights 
are  burned  in  secret.  "  Let  your  light  so  shine 
before  men,"  said  Jesus,  "  that  they  may  see  your 
good  works,  and  glorify  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven." 

But  let  us  ask  more  particularly,  What  is  the 
need  of  this  ?     Why  may  we  not  be   like  Nico- 


CONFESSING  CHRIST  59 

demus,  a  disciple  in  the  dark?  Surely  it  is  possi- 
ble to  cherisli  religious  faith  without  parading  it 
before  one's  fellow-men.  Is  it  not  a  matter 
solely  between  the  individual  soul  and  God?  I 
think  we  appreciate  the  reasons  which  deter  not  a 
few  from  obeying  this  direct  command  of  Christ's. 
It  is  felt  by  some  that  they  have  much  as  yet  to 
think  and  learn  about  in  connection  with  religion. 
There  are  important  questions  which  they  have 
not  solved.  There  are  practical  problems,  too, 
about  which  they  do  not  yet  feel  sure.  They  ask 
more  time  before  such  a  vital  step  shall  be  taken. 
Others,  doubtless,  are  waiting  until  they  are 
better.  I  doubt  not  that  in  many  cases  there  is 
the  knowledge  of  some  particular  habit  or  secret 
fault  which  they  are  not  willing  to  abandon,  and 
which  is  the  real  cause  of  their  delay,  though 
others  may  be  alleged.  They  would  wait  till  the 
more  sober  period  of  middle  life  has  come,  when 
character  will  have  been  settled  and  when  there 
will  be  little  danger  of  later  regret.  I  speak  of 
those  who  in  their  hearts  cherish  the  belief  that 
they  are  Christians,  and  to  whom  some  phase  of 
doctrine,  some  practical  habit,  seems  too  great  a 
barrier  for  them  to  cross.  It  is  with  them  that  I 
plead  to-day  the  duty  of  confession. 

We  plead  it,  first,  for  their  own  sakes.     We  are 


6o  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

ready  to  admit,  indeed,  that  a  man  may  be  a 
Christian  though  out  of  the  Church.  God  forbid 
that  we  should  limit  the  flow  of  His  grace  to  any 
certain  channels  or  that  we  should  ignore  the  evi- 
dence of  godly  lives  wherever  it  may  be  shown. 
But  we  beheve  nevertheless  that  a  belief  which  is 
held  in  secret  is  not  likely  to  benefit  the  believer 
as  it  would  do  if  it  were  expressed.  An  idea 
which  you  cannot  put  into  words  is  certainly  a 
very  vague  and  useless  one  to  you.  An  opinion 
which  you  conceal  from  others  is  not  likely  to 
have  its  due  influence  upon  you.  Especially  is 
this  true  as  to  moral  and  religious  ideas,  w^hich 
from  their  very  nature  demand  the  right  to  govern 
your  conduct  and  control  your  life.  If  you 
keep  them  hermetically  sealed  in  the  closet  of 
your  heart  they  will  not  control  you.  They  will 
not  make  the  man  of  you  that  they  might  make. 
You  cannot  expect  to  enjoy  the  power  and  the 
beauty  of  the  gospel  unless  you  are  outspoken  in 
your  acceptance  of  it,  and  so  commit  yourself 
altogether  to  its  keeping. 

Then,  having  staked  your  all  upon  it,  you  will 
value  it  at  its  true  worth.  Let  a  man  invest  a 
few  dollars  quietly  in  some  rather  promising  en- 
terprise which  is  at  the  same  time  quite  inde- 
pendent   of  his    proper    business,    and    while    he 


CONFESSING  CHRIST  6i 

may  be  interested  in  it  to  the  extent  of  his  in- 
vestment, he  will  not  care  much  whether  it  suc- 
ceed or  fail.  But  let  him  invest  his  whole  fortune 
and  his  name  in  the  enterprise,  and  then  he  will 
live  for  it.  He  will  develop  all  its  resources.  He 
will  work  its  whole  worth.  Let  a  man,  in  like 
manner,  be  openly  and  publicly  on  Christ's  side, 
and  he  will  discover  in  Christ  power  and  beauty, 
truth  and  joy,  which  he  never  would  have  sus- 
pected if  he  had  merely  cherished  in  his  secret 
thoughts  a  vague  belief  You  cannot  expect  to 
reap  a  great  harvest  from  a  little  plot  of  ground. 
But  we  plead  the  duty  of  publicly  confessing 
Christ  also  for  the  sake  of  others.  You  will 
remember  how  the  Lord  said,  "  He  that  is  not 
with  Me  is  against  Me :  and  he  that  gathereth 
not  with  Me  scattereth."  I  know  that  He  also 
said,  "  He  that  is  not  against  us  is  for  us,"  and 
we  recognize  the  latter  truth  in  the  fact  that  in 
many  ways  Christianity  is  sustained  even  by  forces 
which  do  not  belong  to  her, — by  the  needs  of 
society,  by  the  common  respect  and  sympathy 
of  a  large  portion  of  mankind.  But  the  former 
truth  is  equally  valid  and,  as  Christ  intimates, 
relates  chiefly  to  the  personal  relation  which  men 
sustain  to  Him.  Society  will  often  be  for  religion, 
but  against  Christ,  for  a  system  and  a  code  and 


62  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

a  cultus,  but  against  a  personal  religious  life. 
This  latter  is  the  point  before  us  now,  and  we  see 
it  illustrated  by  every  glance  Vv'e  take  over  the 
community  without.  For  every  man,  Hke  Peter 
after  Pentecost,  casts  his  shadow  on  the  society 
about  him.  He  exerts  influence  in  proportion  to 
his  wealth  or  reputation.  We  all  live  "  before 
men,"  and  we  feel  it  more  often  than  we  feel  our- 
selves to  live  before  God.  The  world  is  near  and 
tangible.  It  receives  impressions  as  well  as  gives 
them.  It  counts  with  quick  mathematical  ac- 
curacy the  adherents  of  each  cause.  And  why 
is  it,  though  society  is  called  Christian,  that  the 
current  of  society  is  so  often  away  from  godli- 
ness, if  not  because  there  are  so  many  who  refuse 
positively  to  confess  and  obey  their  faith  ? 

We  say  then  to  those  who  withhold  their  al- 
legiance that  they  are  swelling  the  numbers  of 
the  opposing  host.  Each  counts  one  on  the  other 
side.  Their  children  usually  draw  the  inference 
quickly  enough.  They  are  often  without  the 
faith  as  well  as  the  confession.  The  omission 
of  such  a  duty  is  stronger  than  the  hidden  faith 
can  be.  Actions  speak  louder  than  words.  No 
man  who  refuses  to  let  it  be  known  that  he  is 
on  Christ's  side  but  must  sadly  reflect  that  a 
world   which    much    needs    every    help    it    can 


CONFESSING  CHRIST  63 

toward  God  is  finding  in  him,  so  far  as  his  in- 
fluence goes,  and  all  the  more  if  he  be  a  correct 
and  honorable  man,  an  excuse  for  its  worse 
neglect    and    real    unbelief  of  the  only  Saviour. 

Then  we  plead  for  confession  for  Christ's  sake. 
I  do  not  see  how  there  can  be  in  a  man  very- 
much  gratitude  for  what  Jesus  has  done  for  him 
if  he  be  not  willing  to  own  and  serve  his  Lord. 
Certainly  Christ  does  not  care  for  mere  honor; 
and  yet  we  are  the  worse  if  we  do  not  render 
it.  One  would  think  that  a  man  would  be 
ashamed  of  himself  to  cherish  in  his  heart  faith 
in  Jesus  and  then  to  reflect  that  he  had  not  done 
his  part  in  witness-bearing.  The  apostles  them- 
selves must  have  felt  humiliated  when  they  saw 
Jesus  crucified  and  remembered  their  own  de- 
sertion of  Him.  It  is  scarcely  possible  that  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  has  touched  at  all  deeply  the 
soul  that  is  not  willing,  yea,  that  is  not  glad,  to 
declare  to  the  world  its  faith  in  Him. 

"Yet,"  some  one  will  say,  "it  is  possible  to  do 
all  this  without  making  what  is  commonly  called 
a  profession  of  religion."  Now  we  admit  that  the 
first  and  all-important  way  of  publicly  confessing 
Christ  is  by  the  daily  life.  Let  it  not  be  supposed 
that  in  our  zeal  for  the  ordinances  of  religion  we 
forget  the  greater  ordinances  of  daily  life.    In  fact, 


64  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

the  duty  laid  down  by  Jesus  must  be  thus  per- 
formed or  not  at  all.  The  real  public  confession 
is  that  which  we  make  before  our  townsfolk  and 
acquaintances.  Our  text  means  confessing  Christ 
in  your  business.  Business  ought  to  be  conducted 
in  a  religious  way,  as  well  as  religion  in  a  business 
way.  Many  a  man  knows  the  temptation  not  to 
confess  Christ  when  by  dishonesty,  or  sharpness, 
or  the  Hke,  he  could  make  money.  Would  that 
every  Christian  business  record  were  what  it  ought 
to  be !  I  fear  men  do  not  realize  the  moral  in- 
fluence of  their  commercial  standing.  They  might 
thus  bear  a  testimony  to  Christ  which  would  ac- 
tually save  immortal  souls. 

So,  too,  our  text  means  confessing  Christ  in 
your  recreations  and  in  your  homes.  A  true  con- 
fessor will  take  more  pleasure  in  his  confession 
than  in  any  amusement  that  the  world  loves. 
Religion  is  not  opposed  to  enjoyment.  It  is  not  a 
thing  of  tears  and  sobs  or  of  ascetic  life.  But 
they  who  indulge  in  all  the  world's  gayety,  and 
w4io  at  the  same  time  do  little  or  nothing  for  the 
world's  salvation,  surely  do  not  hold  out  a  very 
bright  light,  by  seeing  which  men  may  glorify  their 
Father  in  the  heavens.  Christ  proclaims  work  as 
greater  than  pleasure,  the  mind  and  the  soul  as 
greater  than  the  body,  spiritual  things  as  worth 


CONFESSING  CHRIST  65 

more  than  the  joys  which  now  are  and  to-morrow 
have  faded,  and  His  confessors  must  testify  by  their 
Hves  to  these  truths.  They  must  not  count  them- 
selves nor  let  themselves  be  counted  with  the 
world's  people.  Hence  we  say  that  the  daily  life 
is  the  best  public  confession  of  Christ.  But  if  so, 
then  why  not  add  to  it  confession  of  Him  in  and 
with  the  Church  ?  Obviously  no  man  who  does 
thus  confess  Him  in  the  daily  life  would  hesitate, 
except  in  a  few  very  peculiar  cases,  to  confess  Him 
among  His  people,  and  every  case  of  such  hesita- 
tion only  shows  that  the  excuse  by  which  such 
hesitation  is  condoned  is  a  mere  excuse.  The  fact 
is,  however,  that  a  formal  avowal  of  faith  in  Jesus 
is  necessary  in  order  to  complete  the  testimony  of 
your  life.  Without  that  of  the  life,  formal  con- 
fession would  be  indeed  vain  ;  but  without  it,  the 
life  is  apt  to  fall  below  the  mark.  It  will  seal  your 
life.  It  will  commit  you  beyond  retraction  to  the 
service  of  God,  and  this  is  what  you  need. 

As  things  now  are,  your  service  is  worth  little. 
Then  it  will  be  worth  double  what  it  now  is.  It 
will  open  to  you  the  real  joy  and  power  of  Chris- 
tian life,  and  you  will  feel  that  }'ou  are  in  closer 
sympathy  with  Him  who  in  the  presence  of  Pilate 
and  the  Jews  witnessed  His  good  confession.  Oh, 
let  us  have  done  with  the  mistake  of  thinking  that 


66  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

we  can  serve  Christ  just  as  well  in  secret  as  in 
public  !  We  can  serve  Him  perhaps,  but  not  just 
as  well.  In  the  majority  of  cases  we  will  be 
guilty  of  hiding  our  talent  in  a  napkin  and  of 
putting  our  light  under  a  bushel.  The  battle 
between  Christ  and  His  foes  is  too  public,  the 
issues  are  too  sharp  for  secret  allegiance.  The 
world's  needs  are  too  great,  aye,  your  own  peril 
is  too  great.  Let  the  world  know  your  faith, 
and  by  declaring  it,  prove  that  it  is  more  than  a 
mere  human  opinion,  prove  it  to  be  rather  the 
Spirit  of  Jesus  witnessing  through  you  to  the 
name  and  truth  of  God. 

3.  Let  us  now  turn  to  notice  the  reward. 
"  Whosoever  shall  confess  Me  before  men,  him 
shall  the  Son  of  man  also  confess  before  the 
angels  of  God."  You  will  notice  the  perfect 
parallel  between  the  duty  and  the  reward.  On 
the  one  hand,  as  our  confession  of  Christ  is  per- 
sonal, so  will  be  His  confession  of  us.  There  is 
no  man  who  honors  Christ  that  Christ  will  not 
honor.  This  is  but  part  of  the  general  truth,  that 
we  are  to  stand  before  God  as  individuals.  The 
Bible  tells  of  a  personal  judgment.  "  Every  one 
of  us  shall  give  account  of  himself  to  God."  It 
speaks  likewise  of  a  personal  protection  exercised 
by  God  over  His  people.     "  I  am  poor  and  needy ; 


CONFESSING  CHRIST  67 

yet  the  Lord  thinketh  upon  me."  The  Almighty 
does  not  govern  us  merely  by  general  laws.  He 
has  in  mind  the  personal  welfare  of  each  child, 
and  in  and  through  the  laws  His  hand  touches 
and  guides  them.  It  is  the  peerless  beauty  of 
our  religion  that  it  constitutes  such  a  personal 
relation,  so  that  in  every  moment  of  our  lives 
we  may  say,  as  Jesus  said  before  His  death, 
"  Father,   I    come   to  Thee." 

So  after  this  manner  will  the  confessor  be  con- 
fessed. Christ  said,  "  I  know  My  sheep,  and 
am  known  of  Mine."  The  apostle  says,  "  Every 
man  shall  have  his  praise,  his  own  peculiar  and 
appropriate  praise  of  God."  Not  in  a  mass,  not 
as  a  church,  but  as  individuals,  will  Jesus,  our 
Advocate,  acknowledge  His  own.  I  think  this 
gives  added  force  to  the  duty  of  confessing  Him. 
We  should  long  then  to  have  His  mark  upon 
us,  and  we  ought  to  be  willing  to  wear  that  mark 
now.  We  should  be  glad  then  to  be  distinct 
from  the  sinful  world ;  we  ought  to  be  glad  to  be 
distinct  now.  By  all  the  hope  we  have  then  of 
the  personal  acknowledgment  of  Jesus,  we  ought 
to  rejoice  now  to  acknowledge  Him  by  life  and 
word. 

Then,  on  the  other  hand,  as  our  confession  of 
Christ  is  public,  so  will  be  His  confession  of  us. 


63  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

I  like  to  think  of  some  obscure  child  of  God, 
whose  testimony  to  his  Lord  the  world  despised, 
crowned  before  angels  and  men  with  the  appro- 
bation of  the  Son  of  God.  The  day  is  coming 
in  which  the  wretched  judgments  that  are  dictated 
by  pride  and  wealth  shall  be  reversed,  and  when 
the  honor  shall  be  given  to  those  who  have  been 
faithful  to  the  Crucified.  We  expect  not  with 
pride,  for  it  will  be  no  testimony  to  our  righteous- 
ness, but  it  will  set  honor  now  on  Him  whom 
now  we  serve.  It  will  be  the  vindication  of  truth 
and  right.  It  will  be  the  glory  of  Christ  in  the 
glory  of  His  Church,  and  the  living  creatures 
and  the  elders  above  the  throne  will  say  *'  Amen  " 
when  Christ  pronounces  His  confession  in  testi- 
mony of  its  justice  and  truth. 

There  is  contained  in  all  this  a  terrible  warn- 
ing which  our  Lord  goes  on  to  state  in  the  verse 
which  follows.  Only  those  whom  Christ  con- 
fesses will  enter  the  everlasting  mansions,  while 
whosoever  denieth  Him  before  men,  him  shall 
the  Son  of  man  deny  before  the  angels  of  God. 
Thus,  confession  is  salvation,  not,  let  me  repeat, 
the  mere  confession  of  the  lips  or  the  creed, — for 
"  not  every  one,"  said  Jesus,  "  that  saith  unto  Me, 
Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven ;  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  My  Father 


CONFESSING  CHRIST  69 

which  is  in  heaven," — but  the  confession  of  the 
life  and  hps,  for,  **  with  the  heart  man  beHe\eth 
unto  righteousness  ;  and  with  the  mouth  confes- 
sion is  made  unto  salvation." 

Open,  avowed,  public  confession  is  what  Jesus 
asks.  He  cannot  look  with  favor  on  the  faith 
that  refuses  to  acknowledge  Him,  any  more  than 
on  the  confession  which  is  insincere.  He  cannot 
be  pleased  to  see  men  paltering  with  the  truths 
of  His  word,  associating  with  the  hosts  of  His 
redeemed,  but  not  joining  in  their  toils  and  pray- 
ers, hiding  what  faith  and  love  and  hope  they 
have  in  the  darkness  of  their  own  souls.  With 
all  the  added  emphasis  which  comes  from  a  sense 
of  the  world's  need  and  of  your  own  need,  I  speak 
this  message  to  you  to-day.  Do  not  remain,  I 
implore  you,  in  perpetual  doubt.  Do  not  remain 
palsied  and  half  blind.  Do  not  imagine  religion 
to  be  a  sentiment  that  you  can  grow  in  your 
hothouse,  but  not  expose  to  the  common  air. 
If  what  you  call  your  religion  will  not  stand  such 
exposure,  in  truth's  name  let  it  die.  For  your 
own  sakes,  for  the  world's  sake,  for  Christ's  sake, 
if  you  have  faith,  dare  to  say  so.  I  would  stand 
to-day,  like  Moses  in  the  camp  of  Israel,  and  cry, 
"Who  is  on  the  Lord's  side  ?  Let  him  gird  on 
his  armor    and  take   his    sword  and   come  forth 


70  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

to  the  battle."  Let  him  show  his  colors — for 
the  words  of  our  text  ring  like  a  clamor  to  action  : 
"  Whosoever  shall  confess  Me  before  men,  him 
shall  the  Son  of  man  also  confess  before  the 
angels  of  God." 


IV 

SAMSON'S  RIDDLE 


IV 

SAMSON'S   RIDDLE 

"  And  he  said  unto  tbem,  Out  of  the  eater  came  forth  meat,  and 
out  of  the  strong  came  forth  sweetness." — Judges  xiv.  14. 

It  is  really  quite  difficult  for  us  to  rouse  much 
admiration  for  Samson.  Looked  at  from  the  dis- 
tance at  which  we  live  from  him,  and  from  the 
height  of  culture  to  which  we  have  attained,  he 
appears  like  a  mere  Jewish  Hercules,  a  gigantic 
development  of  muscle  without  any  corresponding 
powers  of  mind  or  character.  We  do  not  read  of 
his  having  done  anything  which  impresses  us  as 
either  wise  or  noble.  He  appears  in  our  eyes  a 
mere  manslayer,  a  rude,  coarse,  sensual  brute, 
though  somewhat  witty  and  courageous,  playing 
his  bloody  pranks  upon  the  Philistines  with  the 
jollity  of  a  sportsman  ;  joking  with  them  while 
plotting  their  destruction ;  and  combining  with  his 
mighty  physical  strength  the  most  depraved  ani- 
mal passions.  The  only  quality  about  him  that 
we  would  call  a  virtue  was  his  total  abstinence, 
and  yet  he  is  continually  reminding  us  that  even 
total  abstinence  does  not  make  a  man  a  saint. 

73 


74  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

It  is  not  strange  that  many  a  modern  reader  of 
the  Bible  should  stumble  over  the  story  of  Sam- 
son and  ask  how  it  is  possible  to  believe  that  such 
a  man  was  really  raised  up  by  God  to  do  such 
work  and  live  such  a  life.  There  is,  however,  a 
very  simple  principle  which  helps  us  to  meet  this 
difficulty,  a  principle  in  accordance  with  which 
the  whole  Bible  is  constructed.  That  is,  that  if 
God  would  make  a  revelation,  He  must  do  it  in 
language  or  other  symbols  of  thought  which  those 
to  whom  the  revelation  is  given  can  understand. 
If  you  wish  to  explain  anything  to  a  child,  you  do 
not  read  him  the  definition  given  of  it  in  Webster's 
Unabridged  Dictionary,  but  you  use  short  and 
familiar  words,  and  you  point  him  to  some  specific 
example,  which  has  come  within  the  Hmited 
range  of  his  experience,  from  which  he  can  grasp 
your  idea.  Even  so,  you  do  not  suppose  for  a 
moment  that  the  child  has  fully  grasped  your 
thought.  All  you  hope  to  do  is  to  give  him  some 
idea  of  what  you  mean  which  will  serve  his  pur- 
pose until  his  mind  has  grown  and  he  is  able  to 
take  in  the  whole  truth.  In  accordance  with  this 
recognized  principle  has  God  proceeded  in  the 
communication  of  His  thought  and  will  to  men. 

Any  other  principle  would  have  made  a  rev- 
elation impossible,  for  it  could  never  have  been 


SAMSON'S  RIDDLE  75 

apprehended.  If  in  the  childhood  of  the  world 
Pie  had  revealed  the  finished  truths  which  we  may 
learn  from  the  Bible  as  a  whole,  He  would  have 
acted  as  uselessly  as  a  teacher  would  do  who 
would  start  little  children  to  learn  Euclid  before 
they  have  mastered  the  multiplication  table,  or  to 
read  Mill's  Logic  before  they  have  studied  the 
alphabet.  The  whole  Bible  illustrates  the  way  in 
which  little  by  little  the  mind  of  the  Hebrews  was 
led  forward  toward  the  ideal  of  truth  and  char- 
acter which  Jesus  finally  disclosed.  But  on  the 
way  you  must  ever  expect  to  find  merely  move- 
ment toward  the  ideal,  not  its  attainment;  and  you 
must  estimate  each  particular  phase  of  the  history 
in  the  light  of  the  specific  circumstances  in  which 
it  appears  and  the  particular  purpose  it  was  meant 
to  serve. 

If,  then,  we  apply  this  principle  to  the  story  of 
Samson,  we  are  to  remember  the  condition  of  Is- 
rael when  he  lived.  They  were  a  half-civilized 
nation  of  mountaineers,  a  collection  of  tribes  with- 
out any  central  government,  scattered  along  the 
hills  of  Palestine.  There  was  but  little  serious 
observance  of  the  Mosaic  laws  and  ritual,  while 
at  the  same  time  Jehovah  was  held  to  be  their 
national  Deity  and  invisible  King,  and  the  ark  and 
the  priesthood  at  Shiloh  were  reminders  of  the 


76  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

God  whom  their  fathers  had  served  centuries  be- 
fore. The  times  of  the  Judges  in  Israel  were 
times  of  lawlessness  and  confusion  so  great  that 
only  the  establishment  of  David's  monarchy  saved 
the  state  from  destruction  and  the  religion  of 
Moses  from  oblivion.  In  particular,  the  moral 
life  of  the  Hebrews  had  sadly  deterioriated.  Mul- 
titudes had  gone  after  the  gods  of  the  Phihstines 
and  those  impure  Phoenician  deities  v/hose  worship 
was  an  infamy,  whose  service  w^as  open  sin.  The 
whole  nation  was  corrupted  by  these  associations 
and,  as  might  be  expected,  fell  a  prey  to  their 
heathen  neighbors.  For  forty  years  the  Hebrews 
were  subject  to  the  Philistines.  The  spectacle 
presented  is  that  of  utter  weakness, — weakness  as 
a  nation,  weakness  as  a  religion,  weakness  as  a 
people,  and  as  individuals.  All  seemed  to  be  go- 
ing to  destruction,  and  the  reason  was  that  Israel 
had  forsaken  God  and  did  not  observe  His  law. 

Now,  to  make  them  realize  just  this  one  truth, 
that  in  God  was  their  strength,  does  Samson  ap- 
pear to  have  been  raised  up.  He  was  consecrated 
to  Jehovah  from  his  birth,  and  his  abstinence  from 
wine  and  his  uncut  hair  were  the  signs  of  his  con- 
secration. God  endowed  him  with  supernatural 
strength  so  long  as  he  kept  his  Nazarite  vow.  In 
his  personal  character  he  shared  all  the  vices  and 


SAMSON'S  RIDDLE  ^-j 

follies  of  his  race  and  age.  He  was  morally  weak, 
just  as  they  were  weak.  He  delighted  in  adven- 
ture as  a  true  mountaineer.  He  frolicked  with 
danger  like  a  genuine  barbarian.  But  he  was 
gigantically  strong  in  body  so  long  as  he  kept  his 
vow.  The  country  rang  with  the  fame  of  his  ex- 
ploits. The  Philistine  oppressors  trembled  at  his 
coming.  What  did  he  make  them  realize  ?  Sim- 
ply this,  that  God  could  give  strength  to  those 
who  kept  His  law.  The  truth  was  presented  in  a 
way  which  the  rude  marauders  of  both  Judaea  and 
Philistia  would  feel.  Had  he  been  a  man  of  lofty 
spiritual  character  the  lesson  would  not  have  been 
as  impressive.  Jehovah  can  give  supernatural 
strength  to  those  who  observe  His  vows.  The 
inference  was,  Let  Israel  obey  Him,  and  she  too 
will  become  strong  again.  In  proportion  as  her 
obedience  grows  will  her  strength  and  power 
grow.  If  by  obedience  to  the  mere  vow  of  the 
Nazarite  Samson  was  invincible,  how  invincible, 
as  a  nation  and  as  a  church,  might  Israel  be- 
come if  obedient  to  the  whole  moral  law  which 
God  had  given  her.  By  the  happy  though  un- 
natural strength  of  this  Nazarite  were  the  Hebrews 
taught  to  stand  in  reverence  before  Jehovah,  and 
to  seek  for  help  again  in  Him  by  disobeying  whom 
all  their  disasters  had  been  brought  about. 


78  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

For  the  same  reason,  no  doubt,  has  the  story 
of  Samson  been  preserved  to  us.  We  are  not 
called  upon  to  admire  his  character.  He  is  no 
hero  for  us  to  imitate.  He  simply  crystallizes,  in 
his  titanic  figure,  the  idea  of  strength  through 
obedience  to  God,  and  it  is  for  us  to  apply  this 
truth  with  that  broader  knowledge  of  what  obedi- 
ence consists  in,  and  the  finer  ideal  of  what  divine 
strength  really  is,  which  has  been  taught  by  one 
of  which  Samson,  in  his  rude,  fierce  way,  was  to 
his  own  age  an  impressive  type. 

Now  with  this  understanding  of  the  significance 
of  the  man,  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
somewhat  singular  account  of  the  riddle  which  he 
proposed  to  his  Philistine  companions.  It  will  be 
found,  I  think,  to  have  a  deeper  meaning  than  even 
they  guessed  or  Samson  intended,  or  than  lies  upon 
the  surface  of  the  narrative.  The  young  giant  was 
on  his  way  to  Timnath,  a  Philistine  city,  in  company 
with  his  parents,  going  thither  to  see  the  woman 
whom  he  desired  to  make  his  wife.  In  the  region 
between  Dan  and  the  seacoast  wild  beasts  were 
plentiful,  and  it  chanced  that  a  young  lion  sprang 
from  his  lair  on  the  travelers.  But  as  if  it  had 
been  a  kid,  Samson  seized  the  beast  and  without  a 
weapon  in  his  hand  rent  it  into  pieces.  He  said 
nothing  of  the  adventure  even  to  his  parents  ;  but 


SAiMSON'S  RIDDLE  79 

on  the  way  back  he  sought  the  carcass  of  the  Hon 
and  found  that  a  swarm  of  bees  had  hived  in  it, 
and  from  the  strange  storeliouse  he  took  honey 
for  himself  and  his  parents.  He  seems  to  have 
seen  in  this  incident  a  sort  of  omen  of  good  for- 
tune. Probably  he  said  to  himself,  "  As  out  of 
this  lion  honey  has  been  brought  forth,  so  out  of 
the  hated  Philistines,  who  would  tear  Israel  to 
pieces,  shall  there  come  by  me  a  sweet  blessing  to 
my  people."  At  any  rate,  when,  a  short  time 
later,  his  wedding-feast  was  being  celebrated  in 
Timnath,  he  proposed,  in  accordance  with  the  cus- 
tom in  ancient  times,  this  riddle  to  his  Philistine 
guests  and  acquaintances.  "  Out  of  the  eater," 
said  he,  "  came  forth  meat,  and  out  of  the  strong 
came  forth  sweetness.  If  ye  can  certainly  declare 
it  me  within  the  seven  days  of  the  feast,  and 
find  it  out,  then  I  will  give  you  thirty  sheets  and 
thirty  change  of  garments."  Of  course  they  did 
not  know  the  answer.  At  last  they  forced  his 
bride  to  coax  the  answer  from  him,  and  on  the 
last  day  of  the  wedding-feast  they  gave  him  their 
reply.  "  What  is  sweeter  than  honey  ?  What  is 
stronger  than  a  lion  ?"  said  they.  Samson  knew 
that  his  wife  had  been  false  to  him  and  that  the 
story  of  his  adventure  was  out.  Then  with  a  dar- 
ing quite  as  notable  as  that  with  which  he  had 


8o  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

killed  the  lion,  he  hurried  to  Ashkelon,  another 
Philistine  city,  and  soon  returned  with  the  gar- 
ments of  thirty  men  whom  he  had  slain,  with 
which  he  redeemed  his  pledge. 

The  story  reads  at  first  like  mere  rude  jesting 
and  bloody  sport.  It  is  clear,  however,  that 
under  cover  of  his  riddle  Samson  meant  to  in- 
timate to  his  foes  themselves  the  defiance  that  was 
already  burning  within  him.  In  the  honey  from 
the  carcass  of  the  Hon  which  he  had  slain  he  had 
seen  a  divine  omen  of  the  blessing  that  was  to 
come  even  out  of  the  oppressor  of  Israel,  and 
with  the  recklessness  which  was  part  of  his  char- 
acter he  intimated  vaguely  even  to  the  wedding 
guests  what  they  and  their  countrymen  might 
expect  from  him.  He  was  going  to  tear  this 
Philistine  lion  in  pieces  and  gather  from  its  slain 
carcass  honey  for  his  people  Israel ;  and  the  thirty 
men,  lying  dead  at  Ashkelon,  were  but  the  begin- 
ning of  the  slaughter  which  would  befall  her 
foes. 

So  far  the  story.  But  is  this  all  the  meaning  of 
Samson's  riddle  ?  Does  the  whole  worth  of  the 
story  end  with  the  Danite's  fierce  sport  with  his 
enemies  ?  Is  this  narrative  nothing  but  the  record 
of  a  barbarous  jest  ?  Recall  what,  as  I  have  tried 
to  show,  Samson  represents.     What  was  he  in- 


SAMSON'S  RIDDLE  8i 

tended  to  teach  his  own  age  ?  What  is  he  in- 
tended to  teach  us  ?  This,  and  this  alone :  that 
strength  comes  through  obedience  to  God.  Re- 
membering that  Samson's  riddle  acquires  a  deeper 
significance,  deeper,  no  doubt,  than  the  author  of 
it  understood,  but  a  significance  which  makes  it 
worth  our  consideration  as  the  incident  itself 
w^ould  not  be.  It  seems  to  me,  indeed,  to  utter 
what  we  may  call  the  great  riddle  of  human  life, 
the  strangest  fact  which  falls  under  the  observa- 
tion of  men,  the  enigma  which  they  are  continu- 
ally forced  to  solve,  and  the  solution  of  which  lies 
in  that  truth  which  in  his  coarse,  emphatic  way, 
Samson  represented.  Let  me  show  you  what  I 
mean. 

The  riddle  is,  ''  Out  of  the  eater  came  forth 
meat,  and  out  of  the  strong  came  forth  sweetness." 
That  is  to  say,  out  of  that  which  seems  to  consume 
and  destroy  have  come  forth  nourishment  and  sup- 
port; out  of  that  which  appears  oppressive  and 
terrible  have  come  forth  benediction  and  happiness. 
Is  not  this  strange  enough  to  be  called  a  riddle, 
and  yet  is  it  not  the  riddle  of  human  life,  the  fact 
which  on  every  side  confronts  us  ? 

I  might  show,  for  example,  that  the  difficulties 
which  we  have  to  overcome  in  the  pursuit  of  our 
most  cherished  projects   are   the    means  of  our 

6 


82  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

highest  growth  and  greatest  usefulness.  This  is 
so  even  in  the  sphere  of  common  secular  life.  A 
man  whose  pathway  is  smooth  and  sunny  and 
strewn  with  flowers  does  not  usually  reach  as  high 
a  level  of  character  as  the  one  whose  way  is 
rough  and  dark  and  full  of  pitfalls.  There  are  more, 
I  honestly  believe,  who  go  wrong  through  having 
too  many  so-called  blessings  than  there  are  who 
go  wrong  because  life  is  too  hard  for  them.  Very 
few  indeed  are  they  who  do  not  meet  lions  in  the 
way,  to  w^hom  life  is  not  a  struggle,  if  not  with 
outward  obstacles,  at  least  with  inward  ones ;  and 
when  a  child  of  fortune  does  appear  he  is  very 
apt  to  end  as  a  child  of  misery.  But  the  over- 
comine  of  obstacles  makes  the  muscles  of  the 
human  spirit  strong  and  well  developed.  Conflict 
makes  good  soldiers.  Wresting  victory  from  the 
unwiUing  hands  of  destiny  makes  the  enjoyment 
of  it  keener  and  leaves  the  victor  strong  for  fresh 
enterprises. 

Stanley  has  lately  written  these  words,  which 
are  worth  noting  as  coming  from  the  pen  of 
one  who  has  braved  the  dangers  of  the  African 
forest  and  come  out  a  hero.  He  says,  "  The  bigger 
the  work,  the  greater  the  joy  in  doing  it.  That 
whole-hearted  striving  and  wrestling  with  diffi- 
culty, the  laying  hold  with   firm   grip   and  level 


SAMSON'S  RIDDLE  83 

head  and  calm  resolution  of  the  monster,  and  tu< 


'fc) 


ging  and  toiling  and  wrestling  at  it,  to-day,  to- 
morrow, and  the  next,  until  it  is  done, — it  is  the 
soldier's  creed  of  forward,  ever  forward ;  it  is  the 
man's  faith  that  for  this  task  he  was  born."  Such, 
too,  has  always  been  the  testimony  of  those  who 
have  accomplished  great  things  in  life.  Edmund 
Burke,  that  philosophic  statesman,  says,  "  Diffi- 
culty is  a  severe  instructor  set  over  us  by  the 
supreme  ordinance  of  a  parental  Guardian  who 
knows  us  better  than  we  know  ourselves,  as  He 
loves  us  better  too.  He  that  wrestles  with  us 
strengthens  our  nerves  and  sharpens  our  skill ;  our 
antagonist  is  our  helper." 

It  has  been  by  hard  work,  by  the  bitter  experi- 
ence of  failures,  by  learning  the  lessons  of  dis- 
appointment, by  profiting  from  mistakes,  that  the 
strong  men  of  history  have  become  what  they 
were.  The  thinkers  whose  words  have  molded 
the  beliefs  of  men  have  wrestled  with  doubt  and 
grappled  with  the  problems  of  thought  through 
many  a  painful  hour  before  they  have  climbed  to 
the  position  where  they  can  speak  and  make  men 
hear.  The  orators  to  whose  speech  multitudes 
have  listened  and  who  have  seemed  to  have  at 
their  command  every  faculty  of  persuasion  and 
argument  have  had  to  blunder  and  fail  a  hundred 


84  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

times  before  acquiring  their  skill.  And  the  men 
who  climb  to  the  zenith  of  commercial  success 
have  had  first  in  many  instances  to  toil,  watch, 
learn,  and  struggle,  till  the  secret  of  success  was 
won.  We  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  difficulty  is 
man's  best  friend.  It  calls  out  his  powers.  It  sets 
his  wits  at  work.  It  disciplines  his  mind.  It 
steadies  his  brain.  It  trains  him  in  self-control. 
It  enables  him  to  shoulder  heavy  burdens.  It 
feeds  him  while  it  seems  to  consume  him,  and 
blesses  when  it  appears  to  oppose.  No  man 
should  fear  it.  It  is  the  common  lot  ordained  by 
Providence  for  our  highest  good,  and  like  Samson's 
lion,  when  overcome,  it  will  have  honey  in  its 
frame. 

If  true  in  ordinary  work,  this  is  emphatically 
true  in  respect  to  the  attainment  of  moral  char- 
acter. Those  men  have  the  deepest  hold  on  truth 
who  have  had  to  fight  for  it ;  to  whom  doubt  and 
unbelief  have  not  been  passing  dreams,  but  hor- 
rible realities;  and  who  have  discovered,  after 
many  a  storm  and  gale,  the  quiet  harbor  of  faith, 
where  now  they  float  in  peace.  So  temptation 
has  a  divine  work  to  do  in  the  strengthening  of 
moral  fiber.  We  are,  indeed,  taught  to  pray, 
"  Lead  us  not  into  temptation."  No  man  should 
needlessly  covet  it.     It  is  not  wise  to  stir  up  the 


SAMSON'S  RIDDLE  85 

lions  that  will  be  glad  of  a  chance  to  devour  us. 
Nevertheless,  the  Bible  also  says,  "  Blessed  is  the 
man  that  endureth  temptation :  for  when  he  is 
tried,  he  shall  receive  the  crown  of  life,  which  the 
Lord  hath  promised  to  them  that  love  Him." 
Was  not  Jesus  Himself  ordained  to  pass  through 
temptation?  Was  it  not  necessary  for  the  per- 
fecting of  His  power  to  save?  Even  so  does 
the  resisting  of  it  make  us  all  strong. 

Mark  you  :  it  is  the  resisting  and  conquering 
it  which  make  us  strong,  not  playing  with  evil  or 
the  reckless  inviting  of  it.  But  God  has  placed 
us  in  a  world  where  we  must  fight  if  we  would 
win ;  where  the  broad  way  leads  to  death  and  the 
way  of  life  is  strait  and  narrow ;  where  we  must 
play  the  part  of  soldiers  if  we  would  not  play  the 
part  of  slaves.  Yet  He  has  made  this  very  fact 
to  inure  to  the  benefit  of  those  who  strive  for  the 
good  and  the  true.  The  very  necessity  of  watch- 
fulness forces  them  to  learn  how  to  stay  awake. 
The  struggle  against  evil  makes  them  hate  it 
more,  and  more  completely  triumph  over  it. 
They  come  out  of  the  discipline  of  life  with  a 
special  strength  which  is  infinitely  greater  than 
that  with  which  they  began  the  fray;  and  their 
souls  have  grown  by  the  painful  struggle  into  a 
vigorous    faith    and    determination    and   .special 


S6  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

knowledge,  which  may  be  called,  in  comparison 
with  others,  truly  gigantic. 

So  too,  I  might  show  that  the  conflicts  through 
which  the  Church  and  the  truth  of  God  have 
passed  have  not  been  without  beneficial  conse- 
quences. Jesus  expected  the  history  of  his 
Church  to  be  one  long  record  of  conflict.  He 
foretold  persecutions,  subtle  assaults  of  evil  from 
without  and  within ;  slow  growth  in  the  face  of 
hostile  surroundings ;  and  how  clear  and  accurate 
His  forecast  w^as  has  been  demonstrated  by  the 
facts  of  nineteen  centuries.  If  ever  we  are  dis- 
posed to  wonder  why  the  progress  of  Christianity 
has  not  been  more  rapid,  let  us  not  fail  to  remem- 
ber that  He  who  founded  Christianity  expected 
just  such  a  future  for  it  as  it  has  actually  had. 
Yet  this  long  conflict  has  not  been  wholly  evil,  as 
Israel's  experience  may  serve  to  show\  The  young 
gospel  found  itself  at  the  first  confronted  by  the 
mighty  empire  of  Pagan  Rome.  For  nearly  three 
centuries  they  grappled  in  mortal  conflict.  One 
or  the  other  of  them  had  to  die.  It  was  a  tre- 
mendous enterprise  to  undermine  the  constitution 
of  the  ancient  world ;  to  disobey  the  idolatrous 
mandates  of  the  society  about  them ;  to  be  true 
to  Christ  in  an  empire  whose  supreme  law  was  to 
worship  the  emperor;   to    endure  the  hatred  of 


SAMSON'S  RIDDLE  87 

men,  the  constant  peril  of  life,  and  as  the  conflict 
tliickcned  to  die  in  great  numbers  for  the  sake  of 
their  Christian  faith.  But  who  does  not  know  that 
the  very  blood  of  the  martyrs  became  the  seed  of 
the  Church ;  that  persecution  only  made  the  faith 
of  Jesus  mightier ;  that  it  strengthened  the  power 
of  the  infant  Church  until  at  last  the  persecuted 
empire  laid  down  its  sword  and  acknowledged 
that  the  Galilean  had  conquered  ?  It  would  verily 
seem,  if  we  may  judge  of  Christian  history,  that 
the  times  of  persecution  have  been  often  the  times 
of  richest  spiritual  blessing  and  of  greatest  pro- 
portionate benefit  to  the  Church  of  the  Crucified. 
So  also  may  we  find  an  illustration  in  the  con- 
flict with  intellectual  unbelief  which  likewise  has 
marked  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church. 
This  conflict  began  with  Paul's  speech  at  Athens, 
and  it  still  continues.     Faith  has  also  had  to  fio-ht 

o 

its  way.  Old  foes  take  new  faces,  or  are  joined 
by  new  recruits.  If  anyone  be  disposed  to  hesitate 
in  view  of  the  intellectual  unbelief  of  the  modern 
world,  let  him  reflect  that  it  is  as  old  as  Chris- 
tianity. It,  too,  has  brought  forth  good.  It  has 
forced  Christians  to  show  why  they  believe ;  to 
understand  what  they  believe;  to  hold  their  truth 
with  intelligence;  to  think  it  over  and  over  again, 
to  correct  mistakes.     Scientific  and  philosophical 


88  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

lions  have  never  ceased  to  attack  the  Samson  of 
whom  we  speak,  but  I  have  not  the  shadow  of  a 
doubt  that,  though  the  champion  of  faith  may  be 
clawed  and  wounded  by  his  adversaries,  there  will 
be  found  at  last  honey  in  the  lion,  and  that — which 
is  what  we  all  want — truth  will  be  helped  forward 
by  the  struggle.  I  do  not  think  that  it  is  possible 
to  read  the  story  of  the  progress  of  Christian 
thought  without  seeing  that  the  eater  has  brought 
forth  meat,  and  that  from  the  strong  has  come 
forth  sweetness. 

Once  more  I  might  point  you  to  that  form  of 
the  riddle  of  life  which  is  found  in  the  universal 
mission  of  suffering  and  sorrow  among  men.  By 
common  admission  this  is  the  problem  of  prob- 
lems, the  riddle  that  in  pain  and  agony  thousands 
are  wrestling  with  this  very  hour,  the  dark  enigma 
of  human  life.  No  soul  is  free  from  a  share  in  the 
universal  heritage  of  pain.  There  is  scarcely  a 
single  life  which  has  not  at  some  time  sounded  the 
depths  of  darkness,  over  whom  the  great  waters 
of  anguish  have  not  rolled.  The  whole  creation 
groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain  together.  There 
are  times  when  human  life  seems  unutterably  sad, 
so  brief  and  yet  so  full  of  suffering ;  so  pleasant 
and  yet  so  crowded  with  broken  hopes  and  shat- 
tered longings.     Below  the  noise   of   trade,  the 


SAMSON'S  RIDDLE  89 

laughter  of  the  children,  and  the  mingled  cries  of 
the  market-place  and  the  forum,  we  may  hear  the 
solemn  undertone  that  rises  in  all  ages  and  places 
from  the  sorrows  of  humanity;  and  who  can  help 
asking,  "  O  Lord,  how  long?"  Humanity  is 
always  more  or  less  a  "  man  of  sorrows,"  and  the 
longer  we  live  the  more  are  we  apt  to  feel  that  in 
and  by  itself  existence  is  profoundly  sad.  What 
the  ultimate  and  complete  solution  of  this  enigma 
of  suffering  will  be  we  do  not  pretend  to  say;  yet 
this  at  least  is  clear,  that  those  who  have  faith  in 
God  have  found  suffering  and  sorrow  doing  more 
than  anything  else  to  make  them  spiritually  strong. 
Their  testimony  is  that  they  never  grasped  the 
reality  of  life  until  they  did  so  amid  tears ;  that 
they  never  understood  their  God  or  their  Saviour 
till  they  had  learned  to  mourn  ;  that  they  never 
fully  cast  down  self  from  its  unlawful  throne  till 
they  had  yielded  submission  in  suffering  to  God ; 
that  they  never  felt  sin  so  hateful,  the  world  so 
empty,  God  so  real  and  heaven  so  near,  as  when 
affliction  had  come  upon  them.  Every  one  of  us, 
doubtless,  knows  something  of  this  experience. 
We  must,  if  we  be  at  all  children  of  God.  Men 
have  found  in  sorrow  a  priceless  gain  to  match. 
They  have  discovered  in  the  monster  that  would 
overwhelm  them  a  faithful  friend  who  has  taught 


90  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

them  most  needful  lessons.  They  have  attained 
through  the  patient  bearing  of  pain,  through  the 
humble  endurance  of  trouble,  a  refinement  of  char- 
acter, a  sweetness  of  disposition,  a  gentle,  sympa- 
thetic tenderness,  a  quiet  but  an  implicit  trust, 
which  has  made  them  seem  as  beautiful  to  us  as 
they  must  be  dear  to  God.  As  the  Christ  Himself 
wrested  from  His  sorrows  power  to  save  us,  came 
from  Gethsemane  and  Calvary  with  the  sweetest 
of  all  sympathy,  the  tenderest  of  all  love,  the 
strong  Son  of  God,  He  has  forever  cast  at  least 
this  much  light  on  the  dark  enigma,  and  taught  us 
to  believe  that  the  eater  will  bring  forth  meat, 
and  out  of  the  strong  there  will  come  sweetness. 
Thus  in  Samson's  riddle  seems  to  me  to  be 
expressed  in  a  quaint  form  the  riddle  of  human 
life ;  and  in  the  light  of  what  I  remarked,  to  be 
the  specific  truth  which  Samson  was  raised  up 
to  teach,  may  we  leave  the  answer  that  we  are 
to  give  to  the  great  riddle,  as  in  one  or  another 
form  it  will  be  presented  to  and  pressed  upon 
us  each.  You  will  find,  as  no  doubt  you  have 
already  found,  that  nothing  you  undertake  can 
be  accomplished  without  difficulty,  and  that  the 
higher  the  aim  you  select,  the  greater,  the  more 
subtle,  will  the  obstacles  be.  You  will  find  that 
temptation  to  do  wrong  will  dog  your  steps,  will 


SAMSON'S  RIDDLE  91 

appear  in  a  hundred  forms,  will  sometimes  fairly 
overwhelm  you  by  its  plausible  reasonings  and 
its  golden  offers.  If  you  follow  Christ  you  will 
find  that  opposition  will  meet  you  and  often  in 
ways  harder  to  resist  than  if  it  were  open  perse- 
cution, and  that  unbelief  will  never  cease  to  rail 
against  your  faith.  Then  you  need  not  expect 
to  be  exempt  from  sorrow.  Now  perhaps  life 
is  sunshine,  but  the  clouds  and  storms  will  come 
and  you  will  join  the  long  procession  of  your 
suffering   fellow-mortals  who  fear  the  Christ. 

Thus  the  riddle  of  life  will  be  forced  upon  you 
and  often  will  it  seem  insoluble  ;  and  you  will  be 
ready  to  exclaim,  *'  Why  has  God  doomed  me 
to  such  a  lot  ?"  But  who  is  the  strong  man  ? 
Samson  was  raised  up  to  teach  this  single  truth : 
strength  comes  through  obedience  to  God.  Let 
a  man  devote  his  mind  and  heart  to  God  ;  let  his 
supreme  desire  be  in  all  circumstances  to  obey 
God,  and  he  will  find  this  answer  to  the  riddle 
of  life,  that  the  very  thing  which  threatens  to 
consume  him  in  reality  makes  him  strong  ;  that 
no  bitter  cup  is  filled  for  him  to  drink  which  is 
not  sweetened  as  he  drinks  it.  "  Out  of  the  eater 
came  forth  meat,  and  out  of  the  strong  came  forth 
sweetness."  He  will  find  that  life  has  an  infinitely 
grander   end   than    mere    material    prosperity   or 


92  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

personal  pleasure ;  that  life  is  meant  to  be  the 
learning  of  truth,  the  knowing  of  God,  the  attain- 
ment through  these  of  perfect  character.  For  us 
men  there  is  no  more  necessary  means  of  reach- 
ing the  end  than  the  overcoming  of  obstacles. 
It  is  to  him  that  overcometh  that  Jesus  said,  *'  He 
shall  sit  with  Me  on  My  throne." 

Make  God  your  Master.  Resolve  to  obey 
Him  at  all  hazards.  Put  Him  in  the  supreme 
place  in  your  faith  and  conduct,  and  then  go 
forward  fearless  in  the  path  of  duty,  even  though 
your  adversary  as  a  roaring  lion  goeth  before 
you.  Meet  difficulty,  temptation,  and  trial,  you 
must.  If  you  do  not  serve  God,  you  must  meet 
them  just  the  same.  But  if  you  serve  Him  you 
may  meet  them  and  triumph  over  them,  may 
even  wrest  from  them  a  blessing ;  and  find  in  the 
struggle  with  them  unlooked  for  good.  You  will 
thus  solve  the  riddle  of  life,  and  while  others  are 
hopelessly  entangled  you  will  know  the  answer. 
You  will  be  strong  with  the  strength  which  God 
supplies.  If  God  is  for  you,  who  can  be  against 
you  ?  After  the  battle  of  life  is  over  the  God 
you  have  served  will  place  the  crown  upon  your 
head,  and  you  will  be  more  than  conqueror 
through  Him   who    loved   you. 

O,   brothers,  many  of  you,  I    doubt   not,  are 


SAMSON'S  RIDDLE 


93 


sorely  tried  and  heavily  burdened,  many  of  you 
find  yourselves  confronted  with  great  obstacles, 
and  realize  that  if  life  is  to  be  noble  it  must  be  a 
hard  fought  battle.  I  pray  you,  take  God  with 
you  into  the  fight.  Fight  in  His  name  and 
for  Him.  Give  Him  your  supreme  allegiance. 
Then  you  need  not  fear  but  that  when  life  is 
over  you  will  see  in  the  better  world  that  its 
discipline  was  the  means  of  your  deliverance,  that 
faith  did  solve,  in  fact,  the  strange  enigma,  and 
that  even  what  you  thought  hard  and  unkind  was 
that  from  which  you  drew  y  our  richest  benediction. 


PETER'S  SHADOW,   OR  UNCON- 
SCIOUS INFLUENCE 


V 


PETER'S   SHADOW,   OR   UNCONSCIOUS   INFLUENCE 

"  And  by  the  hands  of  the  apostles  were  many  signs  and  won- 
ders wrought  among  the  people.  .  .  .  Insomuch  that  they  brought 
forth  the  sick  into  the  streets,  and  laid  them  on  beds  and  couches, 
that  at  the  least  the  shadow  of  Peter  passing  by  might  overshadow 
some  of  them." — Acts  v.  12,  15. 

This  scene  will  not  appear  incredible  if  we  ob- 
serve how  every  epoch  in  the  history  of  revela- 
tion was  marked  at  its  beginning  by  a  prodigious 
display  of  miraculous  powers.  Thus,  for  example, 
the  exodus  of  Israel  from  Egypt,  the  journey 
through  the  wilderness,  and  the  conquest  of 
Canaan  record  many  such  scenes.  The  ten  plagues 
were  God's  solemn  testimony  to  both  His  people 
and  His  foes  of  His  mighty  power ;  and  as  we 
follow  the  march  of  the  sons  of  Jacob  and  see 
the  Red  Sea  divided,  manna  given  from  heaven 
every  morning,  waters  flowing  out  of  the  flinty 
rock,  the  streams  of  Jordan  standing  still,  and 
the  walls  of  Jericho  falling  down,  we  realize 
that  not  Moses  or  Joshua,  but  Jehovah  Himself 
was  the  leader  of  Israel.  So,  too,  when  the 
7  97 


98  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

kingdom  of  Ephraim  had  revolted  from  its  God, 
and  when  EHjah  and  EHsha  labored  for  its  refor- 
mation, another  era  of  miracles  was  granted. 
The  three  years'  drought,  the  fire  descending 
on  the  sacrifice  on  Carmel,  as  well  as  the  return- 
ing showers,  were  supernatural  answers  to  Elijah's 
prayer,  and  the  life  of  his  successor  in  the  pro- 
phetic office  was  one  long  series  of  miraculous 
deeds. 

The  same  features  marked,  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent,  the  ministry  of  other  prophets ;  but  when 
we  come  to  the  greatest  prophet  of  all,  and  to  the 
beginning  of  the  new  Christian  era,  then  with  re- 
doubled energy  does  the  omnipotence  of  the  God 
in  Christ  manifest  itself  Men  have  doubted  and 
sought  to  explain  away  the  miracles  of  Jesus, 
but  if  it  be  once  realized  that  in  Him  God  is  in- 
carnate, the  lesser  displays  of  power  will  appear 
not  strange  but  natural.  If  with  the  exodus  the 
fierce  wrath  of  Jehovah  vented  itself  in  ten  plagues  ; 
much  more,  with  the  incarnation,  might  the  love 
of  the  Father  utter  itself  in  deeds  of  supernatural 
grace.  So,  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  Christ's 
life  was  glorified  by  a  multitude  of  miracles. 
Those  recorded  of  Him  in  our  Gospels  are  only 
samples.  He  trod  as  God  upon  earth,  though  in 
the  lowly  likeness  of  man.     Before  His  coming 


PETER'S  SHADOW  99 

sickness  and  death  fled  away,  as   thus  in  confes- 
sion that  He  was  to  be  their  final  conqueror. 

But  the  personal  ministry  of  Christ  on  earth 
was  short.  It  was  then  followed  by  that  of  the 
Spirit,  which  is  indeed  still  the  ministry  of  Jesus, 
but  carried  on  in  a  different  way.  But  with  what 
reason  was  its  beginning  also  marked  by  a  pro- 
fusion of  miracles  ?  As  the  last  and  greatest 
epoch  in  revelation,  we  should  expect  this.  The 
opposite  would  have  been  out  of  analogy  with 
all  God's  previous  methods.  There  was  still 
need  to  authenticate  these  converted  fishermen 
as  the  apostles  of  God ;  there  was  even  greater 
need  to  encourage  their  own  hearts  by  the  tokens 
of  Christ's  power  and  presence  ;  there  was  need 
also  to  illustrate  in  the  most  striking  way  the 
doctrines  of  the  new  gospel.  It  is  altogether 
credible, — it  is  altogether  what  we  should  expect 
to  find, — that  "  many  wonders  and  signs  were 
done  by  the  apostles";  and  I  think  we  can 
imagine  nothing  more  likely  to  impress  the 
apostle  himself  and  all  who  saw  it  with  the 
peace,  the  fullness,  the  joyfulness,  and  the  divine 
source  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  than  this  in  which, 
as  he  walked  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  the 
very  shadow  of  Peter  falling  on  the  sick  about 
him  healed  them  all.     Peter    himself  must  have 


loo  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

felt  that  he  was  the  instrument  of  a  power  mighty- 
enough  to  change  and  save  the  world. 

But  while  we  may  thus  accept  without  a  doubt 
the  literal  truth  of  this  narrative,  it  suggests  an- 
other truth  not  miraculous  at  all  and  one  which 
may  be  profitably  applied  to  us  all.  It  is  an  ex- 
ample of  a  man  doing  good  unconsciously  ;  of  in- 
fluence for  good  emanating  from  a  man  without 
his  directly  willing  it,  simply  because  he  himself 
is  "full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  faith."  The 
shadow  of  Peter  is  an  illustration  of  unconscious 
influence  and  of  the  secret  by  which  such  influence 
may  be  exerted  in  the  right  direction  ;  and  I  am 
sure  that  in  a  world  like  this,  in  which  we  are 
so  dependent  upon  each  other,  no  topic  ought 
more  strongly  to  commend  itself  to  our  earnest 
thought.  Let  me  use  this  incident  to  illustrate 
this  theme. 

I.  First,  let  me  remark  upon  the  fact  itself 
of  unconscious  influence,  and  how  truly  each 
of  us  ought  to  feel  that  what  we  are  and 
what  we  do  make  for  good  or  ill  an  impres- 
sion on  our  fellow-men.  I  imagine  that  we 
shall  best  realize  the  influence  which  we  uncon- 
sciously exert  upon  others  if  we  consider  the 
influence  which  others  unconsciously  exert  upon 
us.     Every  man  must  feel  that  it  is  easier  for  him 


PETER'S  SHADOW  loi 

to  assimilate  impressions  from  the  world  about 
him  than  to  originate  for  himself, — that  he  re- 
ceives far  more  than  he  creates ;  and  that  by 
far  the  greater  part  of  what  he  receives  glides 
in  subtly  and  silently  from  sources  which  have 
no  idea  of  how  much  they  are  impressing  him. 
The  human  mind  is  very  receptive  as  a  rule. 
It  is  in  many  respects  the  creation  of  circum- 
stances, though  we  would  not  admit  that  it  is 
altogether  so.  It  grows  in  many  ways  like  the 
plants  and  flowers  of  the  garden,  which  draw 
from  the  soil  beneath,  from  the  air  around  them, 
and  from  the  rain  which  falls  upon  their  leaves 
the  nutriment  they  need.  So  does  every  man, 
I  presume,  feel  that  he  draws  into  him  from  the 
society  about  him,  from  the  various  changes  of 
Providence,  which  are  to  him  like  the  changes 
of  the  seasons,  and  still  more  from  the  moral 
and  intellectual  atmosphere  about  him,  do  what 
he  may.  He  must  breathe,  draw  from  all  of  them, 
I  say,  influences  which  he  makes  in  turn  his  own 
possession  and  assimilates  into  his  own  mind, 
until  they  become  part  of  himself,  so  that  he 
could  not  say  any  longer  if  they  were  originally 
his  own,  or  where  he  obtained  them.  Most 
minds  that  are  at  all  quick  are  like  sensitive 
plates   on  which  the  world's  light  plays  with  its 


I02  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

invisible  forces,  and  sketches  with  its  invisible 
fingers  pictures  that  seldom  fade  away.  Most 
minds  are  sponge-like,  absorbing  the  element 
in  which  they  are  placed  by  Providence.  I  know 
there  is  more  in  the  mind  than  this  power  to 
receive  and  absorb.  There  is  the  power  to  make 
these  influences  one's  own,  as  I  have  said ;  and 
sometimes  the  power  to  apparently  originate, — 
absolutely  to  begin, — an  idea.  But  we  must 
confess  that  this  latter  is  seldom  done,  and  that 
it  is  more  often  true  that,  like  these  people  of 
Jerusalem,  we  live  under  the  shadow  of  other 
men's  lives. 

Take  as  our  first  illustration  of  this  the  way  in 
which  as  children  w^e  used  to  receive  impressions. 
I  suppose  no  man  can  look  back  to  his  childhood 
without  remembering  how  some  of  the  strongest 
motives  which  he  ever  felt  were  produced  by 
events  and  people  and  circumstances,  the  influence 
of  which  no  one  else  understood.  Some  passing 
word,  dropped  from  the  lips  of  one  who  forgot  it 
as  soon  as  it  was  spoken,  has  hngered  in  our 
minds  like  a  mustard-seed  and  in  time  became  a 
great  tree.  Some  book  we  read  has  given  our 
tastes  a  bias  for  life  either  for  good  or  evil.  Some 
slight  deed  of  kindness  which  we  received  has 
stored  up  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  gratitude  in 


PETER'S  SHADOW  103 

our  hearts  and  made  us,  in  turn,  desire  to  fill  our 
own  lives  with  its  same  spirit.  Some  slight  word 
of  encouragement  in  trying  circumstances  has 
nerved  us  afterwards  for  noble  deeds.  Go  back 
into  the  morning  of  your  Hves,  and  note  how  much 
more  influence  examples  had  on  you  than  teaching ; 
how  much  more  you  received  from  persons  than 
from  books  ;  how  far  it  is  true  that  the  character 
which  you  have  since  developed  w^as  molded  by 
trifles,  by  forgotten  passages  in  the  hves  of  others, 
by  some  shadow  that  came  over  you  from  an- 
other's character.  I  believe  it  was  Benjamin  West 
who  said,  "  A  kiss  from  my  mother  made  me  a 
painter."  If  so,  the  great  artist's  experience  was 
not  peculiar.  Did  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh  think 
when  she  took  the  child  Moses  into  the  palace, 
that  the  education  he  would  receive  was  to  pre- 
pare him  to  set  his  people  free  and  give  laws  to  all 
mankind  ?  Did  the  young  lad  David  know  when 
he  defended  his  father's  flock  from  the  lion  and 
the  bear,  how  God  was  making  him  strong  in  soul 
and  arm  so  as  to  deliver  and  defend  his  people 
Israel  ?  Little,  indeed,  did  they  know  that  they 
were  being  trained,  and  little  do  we  realize  how 
our  sensitive  minds  in  childhood  and  youth  ab- 
sorbed principles  that  have  made  or  marred  our 
character  for  time  and  eternity. 


I04  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

Then,  too,  mark  how  in  adult  years,  at  least  in 
the  opening  years  of  manhood  and  womanhood, 
we  are  influenced  unconsciously  by  others.  Take, 
for  example,  the  influence  of  men  of  history, — of 
the  characters  about  whom  we  have  read.  The  past 
pours  itself  like  a  mighty  deluge  upon  each  one 
of  us,  and  all  the  more  if  we  have  learned  to  gaze 
upon  its  broad  tumultuous  waters.  It  is  true  that 
we  consciously  receive  fewer  influences  from 
books  than  from  experience ;  but  this  statement 
must  be  modified  so  as  to  admit  that  we  receive 
vast  influence  through  books,  if  not  from  them. 
They  are  the  means  by  which  we  are  made  ac- 
quainted with  past  generations.  They  are  the 
glasses  through  which  we  look  at  distant  ages. 
They  bring  these  near,  put  us  in  contact  with 
them,  and  open  the  gates  that  the  torrents  may 
rush  in.  I  need  not  add  that  this  is  unconscious 
influence.  These  men  have  long  passed  away; 
their  Hves  have  long  since  been  finished.  We  can 
judge  them  now  in  all  their  parts,  see  where  they 
failed  and  where  they  succeeded ;  perhaps  we  can 
assign  the  reason  for  their  success  or  failure. 
They  know  not  how  their  influence  has  lived  after 
them,  and  the  shadow  of  their  names  and  deeds 
fallen  on  posterity. 

It  would  be  easy  to  collect  illustrations  of  such 


PETER'S  SHADOW  105 

influence.  I  have  read  that  when  Guido  studied 
the  works  of  Michael  Angelo  he  began  "  to  feel 
within  him  the  risings  of  genius," — to  feel  the  fire 
of  his  own  inspiration  kindled  from  the  brilliant 
light  of  the  great  master, — so  that  he  exclaimed, 
"  I  too  am  a  painter."  I  have  read  how  Ignatius 
Loyola,  when  suffering  from  a  severe  wound  re- 
ceived in  battle,  began  to  read  The  Lives  of  the 
Saints  as  a  diversion,  and  how  his  own  ready  soul 
caught  the  contagion  from  the  martyrs  of  the 
past,  until  he  resolved  to  surpass  their  devotion  to 
what  he  believed  to  be  the  holiest  of  all  causes ; 
and  from  that  resolve  the  Jesuit  order  sprang. 
Bad  as  we  think  its  influence  has  been,  it  was  at 
least  born  from  the  influence  exerted  on  its  foun- 
der's mind  by  his  communion  with  the  devotion 
and  sacrifice  of  those  who  had  long  passed  away. 
So  examples  might  be  multiplied.  The  early 
missionaries  who  went  on  heroic  errands  for  God 
and  humanity  have  done  their  work  not  merely  by 
laying  the  foundations  of  God's  temple  in  the  wil- 
derness, but  also  by  stimulating  others  to  follow 
them  as  builders  of  it.  What  have  the  great 
statesmen  of  any  nation  not  done  to  infuse  into 
the  minds  of  posterity  the  principles  which  they 
obeyed  ?  The  Bible  itself  also  contains  many  an 
illustration  in  the  same  line.     It  is  easy  to  see  how 


io6  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

the  characters  of  Moses  and  Joshua  stirred  the 
Jewish  lieart  to  the  end;  how  Solomon  influenced 
later  thought ;  how  even  Christianity  was  nursed 
on  the  influence  of  her  Jewish  ancestry,  so  that 
not  a  few  faults  as  well  as  much  that  was  true  and 
good  came  to  her  from  the  influence  of  Hebrew 
saints  and  of  Hebrew  history.  There  is  no  in- 
telligent man  who  does  not  feel  the  force  of  past 
examples.  The  ages  gone  also  pour  some  of  their 
unconscious  influence  into  the  life  of  each  one. 
We  have  our  heroes  and  our  ideals,  our  favorite 
scenes  and  pictures,  our  models  taken  from  what 
we  have  heard  or  read  in  the  eloquent  pages  of 
the  past,  and  more  perhaps  than  we  are  aware  do 
these  stamp  themselves  in  living  impressions  on 
our  receptive  minds. 

Nor  is  it  only  the  shadow  of  dead  men's  lives 
under  which  we  move.  Is  it  not  equally  true 
that  people  about  us  influence  us  more  than 
they  know  ?  Does  not  everyone  who  has  had 
any  experience  of  life  feel  some  anxiety  at  be- 
holding a  younger  warrior,  in  whom  he  is  inter- 
ested, go  out  to  the  long  battle  ?  And  why  ?  He 
may  have  now  the  best  principles.  He  may  have 
professed  the  most  exalted  ideas.  He  may  scorn 
whatever  is  base  and  low.  But  alas,  he  will  be 
exposed    to    an    influence   as    subtle   as  miasma, 


PETER'S  SHADOW  107 

which  may  bring  on  fatal  moral  disease !  He  will 
see,  perhaps,  how  his  employers  are  not  in  fact 
the  honorable  men  they  are  esteemed  to  be,  and 
yet  how  they  are  successful  and  their  fair  names 
unstained.  He  will  see  how  strict  moral  prin- 
ciples are  held  not  to  apply  to  business  trans- 
actions. He  may  discover  that  success  is  the 
only  god  of  the  street  and  money  its  only  reward. 
And  slowly  the  influence  of  the  world,  which  is  all 
unconscious  of  his  presence,  penetrates  and  spoils 
him.  The  world  did  not  mean  to  ruin  his  charac- 
ter, to  make  him  deny  his  religion,  or  to  do  any- 
thing, good  or  bad,  for  him.  But  he  could  not 
resist  its  unconscious  influence,  he  could  not  stand 
against  its  tide ;  and  once  swimming  with  the 
tide,  once  having  his  early  principles  undermined, 
he  may  go  down  all  the  faster  until  he  is  cast 
out  by  the  now  virtuous  indignation  of  the  world 
that  has  misled  him.  Who  can  stop  the  spread 
of  these  waves  which  widen  outward  ?  Who  does 
not  feel  himself  moved  by  them  ?  How  many 
do  they  not  wholly  carry  away? 

Such  is  our  life.  Such  are  the  influences  which 
others  bring  to  bear  upon  us  individually.  The 
same  is  true  of  communities  and  of  nations,  as 
might  easily  be  shown.  The  character  of  a  peo- 
ple  is    slowly   formed   by   the   accretion    of    in- 


io8  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

fluence, — from  antiquity,  from  other  nations,  even 
from  soil  and  climate, — and  these  are  fused  into 
the  national  character  by  some  force  peculiar 
to  itself  Revolutions  also  do  not  originate  sud- 
denly. They  are  the  result  of  many  years'  in- 
fluence, where  the  forces  have  been  slowly  at 
work  which  at  length  have  culminated  in  a 
crash.  So  the  world  moves,  rises  and  falls, 
perpetuates  the  past,  transmits  to  one  part  the 
lives  and  thoughts  of  another  part,  no  one  living 
unto  himself,  but  all  working  together  for  weal 
or  woe.  As  societies  and  as  individuals  we  can 
hardly  overstate  the  effect  on  us  of  unconscious 
influence.  We  live  in  the  shadow  of  other  men's 
lives. 

Now  in  all  this  we  see  the  reverse  of  the  pic- 
ture, the  converse  of  my  proposition.  But  the 
proposition  itself  needs  no  further  proof  What 
we  have  judged  to  be  true  of  others  is  true  also 
of  ourselves, — as  we  receive  we  also  give;  and 
with  what  effect?  May  we  reverse  the  picture 
and  behold  the  influence  which  we  unconsciously 
must  exert  in  our  turn  ?  You  cannot  say  that 
you  are  too  humble  and  obscure  to  exert  such 
influence.  There  is  no  man,  unless  he  has  sunk 
into  the  very  gutter,  that  has  not  some  one  who 
looks  up  to  him.     There  is  no  one  without  his 


PETER'S  SHADOW 


109 


circle  of  friends,  who  has  not  some  on  whom  he 
makes  an  impression,  even  if  he  be  the  humblest 
and  the  most  obscure. 

It  is  almost  too  trite  a  remark  to  make  that 
nature  teaches  us  the  power  of  little  things.  The 
atoms  make  the  world.  The  beat  of  the  waves 
wears  away  in  time  the  hardest  rock.  So  also 
even  the  humblest  toiler,  the  workman  at  his 
forge  or  loom,  does  his  part  in  the  great  organism 
of  society.  The  individual  soldiers  make  the 
regiment.  I  know  that  by  themselves  they  could 
do  nothing.  They  need  the  guidance  and  genius 
of  their  commanders.  But  once  organized,  as 
we  all  are  in  this  world,  no  one  dare  doubt  that 
he  makes  some  mark  on  some  other  immortal 
soul.  He  throws  some  shadow  on  his  fellow- 
creature's  path. 

Truly  this  is  an  appalling  state  of  things.  It 
discloses  an  overwhelming  responsibilty  which 
we  would  not  willingly  assume.  It  is  a  fact  from 
which  men  shrink  back  and  cry  with  Cain,  "  Am 
I  my  brother's  keeper?"  It  seems  to  lay  on 
us  the  burden  of  we  know  not  what, — an  indefi- 
nite load  of  accountability.  But  it  is  a  fact.  It 
needs  no  apostle  to  cast  a  healing  shadow  on 
suffering  humanity,  and  no  demon  to  cast  a 
shadow  of  ill.     We  are  doing  it  ourselves,  some 


no  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

of  us  throwing  out  such  baleful  influence  on  the 
country  that  though  we  utter  not  a  word  we  are 
blasting  and  cursing  many  souls,  and  others 
casting  such  gentle,  pure,  and  holy  influence, 
that  men  are  glad  to  put  themselves  in  our  way, 
as  they  did  in  Peter's.  All  the  finer  is  such  a 
life  if  its  healing  shadow  falls  unconsciously  and 
without  an  effort,  out  of  the  fullness  of  what  we 
are,  on  this  troubled,  wearied,  sin-sick  world. 

2.  We  are  then,  on  the  other  hand,  led  by  this 
scene  in  Peter's  life  to  what  is  the  one  sure  secret 
whereby  this  unconscious  influence  may  be  made 
a  blessing  to  others.  Since  we  are  speaking  of 
what  is  called  unconscious  influence,  or  influence 
that  is  incident,  indirect,  and  exerted  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  one  from  whom  it  flows,  it  is 
evident  that  this  usually  proceeds  from  that 
somewhat  indistinct  but  most  certain  thing  in 
every  man  w^iich  we  call  his  character.  This 
is  implied  in  the  illustrations  we  have  already 
used.  Our  influence  usually  does  not  flow  so 
much  from  our  professions  as  from  what  we 
actually  believe  and  act  upon.  If  we  are  con- 
sistent, and  our  professions  are  sincere,  then  all 
the  greater  is  their  power ;  but  if  we  are  incon- 
sistent, and  show  by  our  lives  that  we  do  not 
believe   what   we   profess    nor   act  upon  it,  then 


PETER'S  SHADOW  iii 

the  profession  is  worse  than  nothing,  and  the 
influence  proceeds  from  the  character,  even 
though  we  may  seek  to  hide  it.  For  it  does 
not  take  long  for  the  world  to  discover  hypoc- 
risy. Few  men  can  keep  up  a  perfect  disguise. 
The  other  objects  which  they  are  pursuing  will 
break  through  the  deception  and  reveal  it.  Thus 
real  life,  this  thing  called  character,  will  have  its 
say  and  do  its  work,  though  the  outward  reputa- 
tion be  old  and  strong.  No  man  need  flatter 
himself  that  he  is  exerting  a  good  influence  by 
any  insincere  profession.  Time  and  circumstances 
will  tear  off  the  mask  and  leave  the  true  features 
exposed.  There  is  nothing  hid  that  shall  not 
be  known  and  come  abroad.  You  may  exclaim 
that  it  is  unreasonable  in  the  world  not  to  be- 
lieve your  word,  but  if  you  know  that  word  to 
be  false,  you  may  be  sure  that  somewhere  you 
have  let  your  secret  out.  At  any  rate,  uncon- 
scious influence  flows  from  what  we  are,  from 
the  spirit  we  actually  carry  with  us  day  by  day, 
from  the  aims  we  really  have  most  in  mind,  from 
the  thoughts  we  chiefly  love,  and  which,  to  a 
degree  that  perhaps  would  surprise  us,  mold  our 
outward  actions  in  spite  of  the  most  watchful 
care. 

The  question,  so  far  as  moral  influence  is  con- 


112  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

cerned,  is  this,  How  should  we  fortify  our  char- 
acters ;  what  shall  they  be,  so  that,  when  we  are 
off  our  guard  and  engaged  in  the  duties  of  daily 
life,  they  may  of  themselves  exert  an  influence  for 
good  upon  those  about  us  ?  There  is  just  one — 
one  only,  secret  of  such  unconscious  influence.  It 
is  not  culture ;  it  is  not  refinement ;  it  is  not  mo- 
rality. It  is  something  w^hich  Christ  alone  can 
give,  something  with  which  he  had  filled  to  over- 
flowing this  apostle's  soul.  It  is  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Look,  for  example,  at  Peter.  But  a  few  days  be- 
fore that  scene  the  Spirit  of  Pentecost  had  de- 
scended on  him  and  his  brethren.  Before  that 
his  shadow  produced  no  such  effect  as  it  does 
now ;  but  I  doubt  not  that  now  his  very  face  told 
that  he  was  a  changed  man.  It  was  not  Peter's 
eloquence  which  gave  him  his  influence.  It  was 
not  his  personal  traits  of  mind  with  which  he 
blessed  the  multitude,  though  these  traits  made 
him  the  foremost  man  in  the  early  Church.  But 
it  was  that  he  was  filled  with  the  Spirit  whom 
Jesus  had  promised  and  now  had  sent ;  a  Spirit 
who  had  flooded  Peter's  mind  as  of  old  God's 
glory  had  filled  with  light  the  holy  of  holies  in 
the  temple ;  a  Spirit  that  was  divine  and  so  able 
to  bless,  heal,  and  comfort,  through  Peter,  the 
multitude  about  him.     Now,  if  the  Holy  Spirit 


PETER'S  SHADOW  113 

dwell  at  all  in  a  man,  it  is  in  his  character,  in  his 
heart  that  He  dwells.  There  He  makes  His 
abode;  and  just  in  proportion  as  every  heart  is 
filled  with  this  divine  Presence,  may  we  be  sure 
that  the  influence  which  we  unconsciously  exert 
will  always  be  for  good,  not  for  evil. 

Yet  I  would  not  have  you  look  at  this  truth  in 
such  a  way  as  to  imagine  that  this  gift  of  the 
Spirit  is  merely  a  miraculous,  outward  endow- 
ment. There  is  another  way  of  putting  the  teach- 
ing of  our  text,  and  that  is,  that  in  order  to  insure 
an  unconscious  influence  for  good  in  the  world, 
every  man  must  give  great  heed  to  his  inner, 
hidden  heart  life.  There  are  some  who  actually 
never  seem  to  think  of  this.  They  live  on  the 
surface.  They  are  absorbed  in  things  outside  of 
them,  and  only  think  at  all  so  far  as  may  be  in  the 
line  of  their  business.  In  that  they  think  hard 
enough,  but  they  do  not  like  to  probe  down  into 
their  own  character.  They  enjoy  too  much  the 
pleasures  of  the  senses.  They  are  too  much  de- 
lighted with  the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  it  may  be. 
To  isolate  their  own  minds,  and  fix  on  them  the 
attention  which  they  give  to  others,  would,  they 
feel,  soon  involve  such  self-reproach  as  they  do 
not  care  to  face.  So  they  neglect  their  own  char- 
acters altogether.     Their  inner  life  gives  them  no 

8 


114  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

concern  ;  they  do  not  stop  to  consider  how  much 
evil  their  very  neglect  of  character  may  itself 
cause.  Such  men,  at  any  rate,  cannot  be  religious, 
for  this  inner  life  of  the  soul  is  the  secret  of  all 
spiritual  and  moral  power,  and  he  who  makes  his 
shadow  a  healing  one  must  look  within. 

Such  is  the  lesson  which  the  Bible  teaches  in 
the  lives  of  its  saints.  See,  for  example,  Elijah. 
He  came  and  went  like  a  phantom  before  Ahab 
and  Israel,  but  a  most  real  prophet  of  the  Al- 
mighty was  he.  We  think  of  him  daring  to  up- 
braid for  his  crimes  a  guilty  king ;  daring  even  to 
call  down  disaster  on  his  land ;  above  all  do  we 
imagine  him  in  that  dramatic  scene  on  Mount 
Carmel  when  he  set  off  the  power  of  Jehovah  in 
the  fire  from  heaven  against  the  impotence  of  Baal 
and  his  priests.  But  was  he  the  real  Elijah  ?  By 
no  means.  The  real  man  was  shown  when  he 
bowed  in  agonizing  prayer  before  God,  when  he 
communed  with  God  in  the  wilderness ;  when  on 
Horeb  he  heard  God  speak  to  him  in  the  still, 
small  voice.  It  was  the  communion  which  Elijah 
had  with  Jehovah  which  enabled  him  to  dare  the 
wrath  of  the  king ;  it  was  this  which  made  him 
the  spiritual  giant  he  was,  and  caused  him  to 
glow  and  burn  wherever  he  went  with  the  influ- 
ence ^^^hich  alone  could  save  his  deluded  people. 


PETER'S  SHADOW  115 

Or  see  David,  the  poet-king.  What  was  the 
secret  of  his  influence, — what  is  the  great  source 
of  his  influence  to  this  day  ?  Was  it  that  he 
conquered  his  enemies  ?  that  he  erected  a  throne  ? 
that  he  replaced  Saul  ?  These  were  not  the  real 
causes  of  power  even  then ;  still  less  are  they  the 
causes  of  his  influence  now.  That  lies  in  his 
inner  rehgious  life.  It  is  because  David  entered 
so  deeply  into  the  fellowship  of  God,  that  out 
of  his  own  heart  he  sang  the  strains  which  find 
an  echo  in  all  Christian  hearts  to-day,  that  he 
lives  in  our  remembrance  as  one  of  God's  best 
saints.  What  have  the  Psalms  not  done  for 
the  world  ?  David  is  dead,  but  his  inner  life 
gives  food  for  millions,  healing  to  the  sick  and 
comfort  to  the  sad.  As  some  one  has  finely  writ- 
ten, **  The  Psalter  is  the  sacred  book  of  the 
world.  Cromwell  led  his  men  to  victory  with 
the  68th  Psalm ;  Luther  strengthened  his  heart 
with  the  vigor  of  the  Psalms.  Wallace  had  his 
psalter  hung  before  him  at  his  execution  and 
died  with  his  eyes  fixed  upon  it.  Polycarp,  Hil- 
debrand,  Huss,  Melanchthon,gave  their  last  breath 
to  the  words  of  a  Psalm.  One  Psalm  alone  has 
engraved  itself  on  the  lives  of  men.  The  peni- 
tence of  the  contrite  soul  has  loved  to  breathe 
out  its   miserere.     Thomas  Arnold  had  the  51st 


ii6  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

Psalm  read  to  him  when  dying,  and  John  Rogers 
recited  it  as  he  went  to  the  stake.  Jeremy  Tay- 
lor transformed  it  into  a  prayer.  Lady  Jane 
Grey  repeated  its  cry  for  mercy  as  she  ascended 
the  scaffold,  and  Sir  Thomas  More  as  he  laid 
his  head  on  the  block.  Augustine  had  written 
on  the  wall  opposite  the  bed  where  he  lay  sick, 
*  The  sacrifices  of  God  are  a  broken  spirit,'  and 
Bernard  passed  on  with  this  same  verse  upon 
his  lips." 

What  an  influence  to  flow  from  one  book, — 
and  that  book  in  spirit  the  work  of  one  man ! 
For  though  David  did  not  write  all  the  Psalms, 
he  struck  the  key  in  which  other  poets  con- 
tinued. Thus  from  his  inner  life,  from  his  life 
with  God,  from  the  devotion  of  his  own  soul, 
he  threw  over  the  centuries,  unconsciously  to 
himself,  a  shadow  in  which  tens  of  thousands 
have  found  peace  and  joy.  Because  he  had  the 
spirit  of  his  greater  Son,  he  became  like  Christ 
himself,  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary 
land. 

Now,  my  hearer,  do  you  not  think  it  worth 
your  while  to  do  what  you  can  to  cast  a  healing 
shadow  on  the  world  around  you  ?  Surely  the 
world  needs  all  the  help  you  can  render.  It  is 
sick  and  sorrowful,  and  needs  comfort ;  sinful,  and 


PETER'S  SHADOW  117 

needs  the  blessing  of  all  the  good  examples  and 
the  good  deeds  you  can  give  it.  Then  be  it 
remembered  that  what  you  purposely  strive  to  do 
for  the  good  of  others  is  not  all  you  might  do. 
Unknown  to  you  your  character  will  tell  upon 
the  world,  will  help  or  hinder  your  intentions. 
From  you  men  may  draw  encouragement,  may 
be  stimulated  to  labor  more  cheerfully,  suffer 
more  patiently,  struggle  more  bravely,  and  be- 
lieve more  firmly,  or  may  be  disheartened  and  be 
led  to  falter  and  give  up. 

You  may  move  through  the  world,  if  you  will, 
like  Peter  along  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  scat- 
tering on  every  side  joy,  hope,  and  peace.  What 
a  life  to  live !  How  thankful  we  should  be  that 
such  a  life  is  possible !  But  if  you  are  to  do 
this,  then  must  you  pay  the  price.  You  must 
surrender  your  life  altogether  to  Jesus  Christ. 
You  must  strengthen  your  faith  and  love  by  com- 
munion with  Him.  You  must  be  wiUing  to  sacri- 
fice whatever  He  demands,  whenever  He  de- 
mands it.  You  must,  like  Peter,  fill  your  heart 
with  the  Holy  Spirit  received  from  Christ's  hand. 
Then  you  need  not  vex  yourself  with  the  ques- 
tion whether  you  are  doing  good  or  not  by  your 
influence,  for  you  will  not  be  able  to  help  doing 
good, — it    will    flow    out    from    your   words    and 


ii8  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

deeds,  and  unknown  to  you,  you  will  cast  a 
healing  shadow  over  the  hearts  and  lives  of 
others.  Men  will  glorify  in  you  the  God  whom 
through  you  they  have  come  to  know  as  a  God 
of  love. 


VI 


THE  WAY,  THE  TRUTH,   AND 
THE  LIFE 


VI 

THE  WAY,  THE  TRUTH,  AND  THE  LIFE 

"  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life." 
— John  xiv.  6. 

The  second  and  third  of  these  predicates 
explain  and  define  the  first.  Notice  that  the  first 
statement,  "  I  am  the  way,"  is  a  figurative  one. 
In  it  Jesus  uses  a  material  object  to  express  a 
spiritual  truth.  He  spoke  in  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion of  Thomas,  "  Lord,  we  know  not  whither 
Thou  goest ;  and  how  can  we  know  the  way  ?" 
Jesus  wanted  to  teach  the  disciples  that  even  if 
they  did  not  know  much  about  heaven  and  the 
future,  yet  they  possessed  in  their  relationship  to 
Him  the  means  whereby  all  that  was  good  and 
heavenly  would  be  attained  by  them.  He  said, 
"  I  am  the  way,  ...  no  man  cometh  unto  the 
Father,  but  by  Me."  Notice  that  the  second 
and  third  predicates  are  not  figures  at  all,  but 
plain  and  direct  statements.  They  are  meant 
literally.  "  I  am  the  truth."  "  I  am  the  life." 
They  were  evidently  added  in  order  to  explain  or 
define  the  sense  in  which  He  said   He  was  the 


122  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

way ;  and  the  whole  sentence  is  to  be  accordingly 
understood.  "  I  am  the  way,"  said  Jesus,  "  be- 
cause I  am  the  truth  and  the  life." 

Now  to  be  taught  the  way  to  God  is  man's 
supreme  need.  We  instinctively  use  the  figure, 
even  though  we  know  that  it  is  but  a  figure. 
Moral  distance  is  naturally  represented  by  spacial 
distance.  The  sinner  is  pictured  not  only  by 
Christ  but  by  himself  as  in  a  far  country :  and 
though  God  be  not  far  from  any  of  us,  man  feels 
after  Him,  like  the  blind  who  have  lost  their  way, 
if  haply  he  may  find  Him.  To  reach  God  is  the 
confessed  goal  of  human  life.  To  know  the  way 
to  Him  is  our  chief  necessity.  So  testify  the 
history  of  all  religions  that  ever  have  held  sway 
over  humanity.  So  testify  the  longings  and  felt 
needs  of  every  thoughtful  heart.  Sometimes 
God  is  thought  of  as  to  be  reached  at  the  end  of 
the  present  life;  sometimes,  and  more  correctly, 
as  to  be  reached  at  once.  But  in  either  case  the 
way  to  Him  is  what  man  needs  to  know.  How 
is  God  to  be  made  manifest  to  our  thought  and 
consciousness  ?  How  is  the  human  soul,  with  its 
sins  and  fears,  to  ascertain  God's  forgiveness  and 
to  be  positively  reconciled  to  Him  ?  How  are  we 
to  live  so  as  at  last  to  attain  the  divine  presence  in 
the  world   beyond  ?     God   is    necessary   for   our 


THE  WAY,  THE  TRUTH,  AND  THE  LIFE  123 

happiness.  Life  is  unfinished  until  it  be  in  har- 
mony with  God.  Only  in  God  can  we  be  satis- 
fied and  saved.  And  so  the  cry  of  all  earnest, 
awakened  souls  the  world  over  is  for  God.  Jew 
and  Gentile  join  in  the  search.  The  only  ques- 
tion is,  What  is  the  way  ?  To  answer  this  ques- 
tion is  to  solve  the  supreme  problem  of  human 
life. 

Jesus  Christ  claimed  to  solve  the  question  in  a 
unique  manner.  He  did  not  say,  "  I  can  show 
you  the  way  to  God."  He  did  not  come  as  a 
wise  man  or  even  as  a  prophet.  He  said,  "  I  am 
the  way."  He  evidently  meant  that  He  was  such 
a  being  that  by  virtue  of  what  He  was,  access  to 
God  had  become  possible  for  man,  that  alone 
through  some  personal  relationship  to  Himself 
could  men  find  God.  It  was  a  unique  answer  to 
the  question,  "  What  is  the  way  ?"  Others  had 
pointed  out  ways  of  reaching  God.  None  had 
claimed  to  be  the  way. 

It  was  also  a  sublime  claim  which  could  be 
made  only  by  one  who  believed  Himself  to 
occupy  a  position,  between  men  and  God,  of 
solitary  grandeur  and  importance.  In  making  it 
He  virtually  declared  Himself  the  God-man,  the 
living,  personal  Mediator  between  humanity  and 
Deity.     He  is  that  or  He  is  nothing,  according  to 


124  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

His  own  statement ;  and  if  He  be  that,  then  He 
ought  to  have  the  supreme  place  in  our  allegiance 
and  trust.  If  then,  as  I  have  said,  the  words 
truth  and  life  were  meant  to  explain  the  sense  in 
which  He  is  the  way,  we  must  examine  the  claims 
expressed  by  them  in  order  to  understand  and 
accept  the  claim  expressed  by  it.  Let  us  ques- 
tion them  in  turn. 

Jesus  Christ  then  said,  "  I  am  the  truth."  We 
not  only  have  it  on  the  direct  authority  of 
one  that  heard  Him  say  it,  but  it  agrees  with 
many  other  of  His  recorded  sayings.  It  is  put 
in  a  way  that  is  characteristic  of  Him.  He  said, 
"  I  am  the  light  of  the  world."  "  I  am  the  bread 
of  life."  "  I  am  the  door."  "  I  am  the  vine." 
He  also  used  expressions  equivalent  in  meaning 
to  this,  though  put  in  other  forms.  To  Pilate  He 
said,  "  To  this  end  was  I  born,  and  for  this 
cause  came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  should  bear 
witness  unto  the  truth.  Everyone  that  is  of 
the  truth  heareth  My  voice."  Even  in  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount  He  spoke  as  one  having 
authority,  putting  His  thought  supreme  above 
that  of  all  other  men.  It  is  quite  credible  that 
He  also  said,  as  John  reports  it,  "  I  am  the 
truth."  He  also  made  belief  in  Himself  to  be 
the  condition  of  entering  the   kingdom  of  God, 


THE  WAY,  THE  TRUTH,  AND  THE  LIFE  125 

which  is  the  kingdom  of  the  truth.  Observe 
carefully  His  language.  He  did  not  say  merely 
that  He  was  true ;  that  what  He  taught  was 
right ;  that  it  was  worthy  of  credence.  He  does 
not  present  Himself  to  us  as  merely  a  teacher  of 
the  truth.  Paul  could  have  said  that — yea,  any 
teacher,  inspired  or  uninspired,  might  reasonably 
make  the  claim.  If  this  were  all,  Jesus  would 
take  His  place  with  the  long  list  of  wise  men  to 
whom  the  world  has  listened.  He  might  be  a 
great  instructor  of  the  race,  greater  than  Socrates 
or  Solomon ;  but  He  would  never  deserve  to 
occupy  the  peculiar  place  which  He  does  occupy 
in  the  faith  of  the  Church,  nor  would  His  religion 
necessarily  be  the  absolute  and  universal  one. 
There  is  a  great  difference  between  saying,  "  I  am 
true  "  and  "  I  am  the  truth." 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  He  certainly  did  not 
mean  that  He  was  the  only  truth  or  all  truth. 
He  was  speaking  of  morals  and  religion,  of  the 
way  to  God,  and  the  winning  of  eternal  life.  He 
did  not  say  "  I  am  truth,"  but  "  I  am  the  truth," 
the  truth  paramount.  "  I  am  the  truth  which 
all  men  who  would  find  God  need  to  know ;  the 
truth  which  in  the  matter  of  man's  salvation  is 
essential ;  the  truth  before  which  all  other  truths 
sink   into   comparative  insignificance.     I  do   not 


126  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

merely  teach  it:  but  I  am  it."  In  so  saying, 
Jesus  declared  that  His  existence  was  the  su- 
preme fact  in  human  history,  the  knowledge  of 
which  was  more  important  than  any  other  kind  of 
knowledge.  Only  by  taking  His  personality  and 
work  into  account  could  men  rightly  think  of 
God  and  duty  and  heaven.  That  He  is ;  and  what 
He  is,  the  Christ  of  God,  the  revealer  of  the 
Father,  the  Son  of  God  and  Son  of  man,  is  the 
truth  paramount  in  the  whole  sphere  of  human 
knowledge  and  the  whole  history  of  human  life. 
It  must,  I  think,  be  evident  that  He  could  have 
spoken  thus  only  if  that  idea  of  His  divine-human 
personality,  which  apostles  taught  and  the  Church 
has  cherished,  be  true.  If  He  were  but  a  man, 
He  could  not  have  thus  spoken,  provided  at  least 
that  He  was  sane  and  honest.  Some  people  have 
stumbled  over  the  fact  that  Jesus  did  not  expressly 
and  prominently  teach  His  own  divinity  as  the 
apostles  did.  They  forget  that  He  came  to  be  a 
man,  to  thrust  His  humanity  into  the  foreground, 
that  as  man  He  might  be  man's  Saviour.  But  He 
did  claim  rights  and  powers  which  only  God  can 
have,  so  that  we  are  sure  the  apostles  were  not 
mistaken ;  and  w^hen  He  here  claimed  to  be  the 
truth.  He  asserted  for  Himself  a  position  so  su- 
preme that  nothing  fully  accounts  for  the  claim  or 


THE  WAY,  THE  TRUTH,  AND  THE  LIFE    127 

justifies  it  except  the  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation. 
But  if  the  Word  did  become  flesh,  if  the  Son  of 
God  did  become  the  Son  of  man,  then  does  the 
language  of  the  text  become  perfectly  intelligible. 
Before  such  a  fact  no  other  can  be  mentioned, 
none  can  be  so  important,  none  so  full  of  mean- 
ing.   Then  could  He  easily  say,  *'  I  am  the  truth." 

But  I  would  like  to  persuade  you  of  the  right- 
fulness of  Christ's  claim  not  by  dogmatic  con- 
siderations so  much  as  by  an  actual  examination 
of  what  He  appears  to  be. 

Look,  for  example,  at  His  character  and  see 
if  He  be  not  the  truth.  The  wonderful  fact  about 
Christ  as  a  moral  teacher  is  that  He  Himself  was 
all  that  He  taught  others  to  be.  In  this  He  stands 
absolutely  alone  in  the  whole  list  of  teachers. 
Buddha  only  made  an  approach  to  such  a  claim ; 
but  he  professed  to  reach  perfection  only  after  a 
long  life  of  self-discipline.  Jesus  Christ  was  from 
the  beginning  the  perfect  embodiment  of  His  own 
teaching.  True,  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  says 
that  He  was  made  perfect  through  sufferings ; 
but  by  that  was  evidently  meant  that  He  was 
made  perfectly  able  to  save  by  the  things  which 
He  suffered.  The  New  Testament  represents 
Jesus  as  growing  in  wisdom  and  knowledge,  but 
it  never  represents  His    growth  as  consisting  in 


128  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

the  removal  of  sin.  On  the  contrary,  it  declares 
Him  to  have  been  wholly  without  sin. 

But  whatever  the  Scriptures  may  say,  the  fact 
is,  that  as  we  study  His  character  and  life  it  ap- 
pears absolutely  to  agree  with  His  own  moral 
teaching.  This  was  the  reason  why  His  teaching 
had  such  power.  It  was  not  altogether  new 
teaching.  Men  had  long  known  most  of  the 
duties  which  Jesus  announced  to  them.  His  great 
command :  "  Love  the  Lord  thy  God  .  .  .  and  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself,"  was  taken  from  Moses.  It 
was  even  well  known  to  the  Jews,  for  a  lawyer, 
you  remember,  once  quoted  it  to  Christ.  It  is 
possible  to  find  anticipations  of  Christ's  moral 
teaching  even  in  heathen  writers.  Some  have  im- 
agined that  it  is  necessary  to  show  that  all  was 
new  with  Christ;  but  it  is  neither  necessary  nor 
is  it  true. 

The  unique  power  of  Christ's  moral  teach- 
ing lies  in  these  facts :  First,  that  it  does  not 
include  anything  which  the  surest  tests  that  men 
can  apply  prove  to  be  erroneous  or  false,  whereas 
heathen  moralists,  while  uttering  great  truths, 
unite  them  with  folly  or  wrong.  Then,  secondly, 
Christ's  moral  teaching  shows  the  highest  sense 
of  proportion  between  duties  and  the  grouping  of 
them    round  the  fundamental   principle,  so   that 


THE  WAY,   THE  TRUTH,  AND  THE  LIP^E    129 

they  make  the  impression  of  one  great  thought, 
and  grow  out  of  one  great  principle,  the  thought 
and  principle  of  love.    But,  thirdly,  Christ's  unique 
power  as  a  teacher  of  morals  lies  in  the  fact  that 
He  embodied  in  His  own  life  His  whole  teaching. 
Did  He   teach  the  love  of  God  and  man  ?     His 
life  expressed  just  that;  for  His  whole  career  was 
nothing  but  the  utterance  of  love  to  God  and  to 
man.     Did  He  teach  the  duty  of  personal,  sincere, 
absolute  righteousness  ?     Did  He  teach  humility 
and   meekness   and    purity?     Did   He    say,   "As 
ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  also 
to  them    likewise  "  ?     Did  He  say,    '*  Love  your 
enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you  "  ?     I  need  not 
remind  you  that  all  this  was  pictured  in  His  own 
condition  and  character   for  the   admiration   and 
imitation  of  mankind.     He  could  say,  "  I  am  the 
truth."     He  gives  us  not  a  theory  of  condition  nor 
a  treatise  on  morality,  but  an  actual  life,  in  which 
all  that  is  good  stands  forth  in  real  existence.     He 
could  say,  **  Follow  Me  ;  for  all  the  truth  concern- 
ing what  man  should  be   I  am."     This  was  the 
main  cause  of  His  moral  power.     This  is  its  main 
cause  now.     This  excludes  Him  from  comparison 
with   all   other  teachers.     He  was  and  is  in   the 
sphere  of  moral  character  all  that  He  taught  to 
be  the  truth. 

9 


I30  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

Then  consider,  still  more  particularly,  that 
Christ's  teaching  about  salvation  and  the  way  in 
which  we  may  secure  it  rests  upon  and  grows 
out  of  what  He  is,  so  that  if  you  were  to  take 
Him  away  from  under  it,  the  whole  doctrine 
would  fall  in  a  minute  to  the  ground.  This  will 
appear  if  we  look  at  it  from  several  points  of 
view. 

Christ  has  told  the  world  of  God's  love  for 
the  sinful.  The  supreme  truth  which  Christianity 
proclaims  is  not  that  God  will  punish  the  impeni- 
tent. Conscience  and  the  Mosaic  law  had  al- 
ready proclaimed  that,  and  Christianity  simply 
reaffirms  it.  Its  proper  message  is  that  man  may 
be  saved  from  sin  and  from  its  consequences.  It 
speaks  to  a  perishing,  lost  race,  telling  them  that 
God  is  like  a  father  waiting  for  the  return  of  his 
wandering  son ;  nay,  that  He  has  sent  forth  an 
invitation  to  men  to  seek  again  His  face  and 
home.  He  is  reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself 
He  would  have  all  men  to  be  saved.  He  desires 
not  the  death  of  the  sinner,  but  rather  that  he 
should  turn  from  his  sins  and  live.  Whosoever 
will,  let  him  come  and  take  the  water  of  life 
freely.  Above  all  the  truths  which  Christianity 
proclaims,  this  soars  out  as  the  sun  above  the 
stars ;  it  gleams  as  the  diamond  among  jewels. 


THE  WAY,   THE  TRUTH,  AND  THE  LIFE    131 

But  how  do  we  know  it  to  be  the  truth  ?  Solely 
because  Christ  the  Son  of  God  came  forth  from 
the  Father  to  express  in  His  life  and  work  that 
love.  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  g-ave 
His  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting 
life."  Christ  is  this  truth.  He  is  the  love  of 
God  personified,  incarnate,  made  manifest.  Take 
Him  away  and  the  darkness  returns  again,  for  the 
love  of  God  becomes  once  more  only  a  specula- 
tion or  a  hope.  He  could  have  said,  "  I  am  the 
love  of  God.  I  bear  it  in  My  being.  I  express 
it.  I  prove  it.  I  represent  it,  and  its  reality  and 
its  power  issue  from  what  I  am.  I  am  this 
truth." 

Then,  again,  Christ  has  not  only  proclaimed 
God's  love,  but  He  has  insisted  that  the  object 
of  it  is  to  reconcile  men  with  God,  and  that 
salvation  consists  in  nothing  less  than  such  real 
reconciliation.  Christ's  teaching  is  based  on  the 
recognition  of  sin  as  a  fact,  on  guilt  as  requir- 
ing atonement,  on  human  life  as  in  rebellion 
against  God.  God's  love.  He  said,  has  provided 
a  way  by  which  the  sinner  may  be  reconciled  to 
God.  Jesus  did  not  speak  of  salvation  as  merely 
escape  from  punishment.  That  is  only  its  nega- 
tive side.     It  consists  in  reunion  of  heart  and  life 


132  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

with  God.  Eternal  life  is  to  know  God.  This  is 
to  be  a  personal  reconciliation, — a  reunion  of  the 
individual,  not  of  the  race  or  nation, — with  His 
Father. 

It  is  a  sublime  scheme  of  redemption  which 
Christianity  proclaims.  It  takes  into  account  the 
whole  nature  of  God, — His  holiness  and  His 
love,  His  wisdom  and  His  unchangeableness ; 
and  it  shows  how  these  may  be  satisfied  and  yet 
the  sinner  saved.  It  takes  into  account  also  the 
whole  nature  and  need  of  man, — his  guilt,  requir- 
ing atonement;  his  sinfulness,  requiring  renewal 
of  heart ;  his  ignorance,  requiring  revelation ;  his 
fear,  requiring  promises ;  his  doubts,  requiring  ar- 
gument and  patient  education ;  and  shows  how 
all  these  may  be  recognized  and  satisfied,  and  so 
the  sinner  be  saved.  The  keynote  of  the  whole 
is  reconciliation  of  man  with  God,  and  this  truth 
Jesus  proclaimed  in  the  plainest  way.  He  called 
sinners  to  repent.  He  said  that  He  was  going  to 
lay  down  His  life  as  a  ransom.  He  insisted  that 
each  one  must  be  born  again.  He  sketched  the 
outline  of  the  whole  scheme  when  He  said,  "  I  in 
them,  and  they  in  Me,  that  they  may  be  made 
perfect  in  one."  This  is  His  teaching.  But  mark 
that  it  all  depends  on  His  being  what,  in  the  cir- 
cumstances, He  is  required  to  be.     He  holds  the 


THE  WAY,  THE  TRUTH,   AND  THE  LIFE    133 

scheme  together  as  a  keystone  holds  the  arch. 
He  is  this  truth  concentrated,  if  I  may  so  speak. 
He  shows  us  God  and  man  united  in  His  own 
person.  He  is  the  sacrifice  by  which  human 
guilt  may  be  removed.  He  is  the  power  by 
which  the  new  nature  is  formed  in  us  through  the 
Holy  Ghost.  He  is  the  pledge  of  victory  by 
which  our  fears  and  doubts  are  vanquished.  He 
is  the  theme  by  knowing  which  our  minds  are 
enlightened.  In  short,  He  is  the  reconciliation  of 
man  and  God ;  and  the  enjoyment  thereof  by  the 
race  of  men  will  be  obtained  only  as  they  partake 
of  Him. 

Thus  could  He  say,  "  I  am  the  truth."  He 
could  say  so  without  figure.  All  Bible  doctrine 
is  simply  the  interpretation  of  Christ,  the  expan- 
sion, so  to  speak,  of  His  personality  and  the  fruit 
from  His  life.  All  Christian  duty  is  summed  up 
in  the  imitation  of  Christ.  He  is  the  alpha  and 
omega  of  God's  thought, — the  alphabet  by  which 
we  spell  out  religion  and  through  which  God 
speaks  to  us.  He  is  far  more  than  the  Founder 
of  Christianity, — He  is  Christianity,  and  all  that 
is  Christian  is  an  outgrowth  from  Him.  Take 
Him  away,  and  the  whole  structure  is  left  with- 
out certainty,  without  proof,  and  without  power. 
Aye,    He   is   the   truth.      There    He    stands    in 


134  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

human  history,  unrivaled  and  self-accrediting.  As 
the  mists  of  ignorance  are  lifted  He  appears  more 
true  than  ever.  As  the  mind  tries  the  experiment 
of  other  saviors,  it  turns  with  new  conviction 
back  to  Him.  As  it  tests  His  word,  its  convic- 
tions are  again  confirmed.  The  storms  of  con- 
troversy may  sweep  away  other  beliefs,  but  they 
die  at  His  feet.  He  has  stood  the  test  of  cen- 
turies, and  He  is  more  convincingly  true  than 
ever.  He  is  the  truth.  He  guarantees  it.  He 
explains  it,  He  embodies  it,  He  makes  it, — the 
truth  without  which  God  would  be  hidden,  im- 
mortality veiled,  and  salvation  a  question.  Jesus 
Christ  as  an  historical  fact  is  the  truth  which 
beyond  all  comparison  with  any  other  deserves 
to  be  called  fundamental  and  supreme. 

But  now,  observe.  He  went  further.  Let  us 
briefly  examine  the  other  statement  which  He 
joins  to  this  :  "  I  am  the  life." 

It  is  to  be  understood,  of  course,  in  the  same 
way  as  the  former.  He  did  not  say,  "  I  am  the 
living  One,"  as  if  He  meant  to  afiirm  His  own 
immortahty.  That  would  have  been  true,  but  it 
was  clearly  not  His  idea  in  this  place.  Nor  did 
He  say,  "  I  am  life."  That  also  would  have  been 
true ;  for  John  writes  of  the  eternal  Word,  "  In 
Him  was  life."     But  Jesus  said,  "  I  am  the  life," 


THE  WAY,  THE  TRUTH,  AND  THE  LIFE    135 

the  life,  that  is,  of  renewed  souls,  the  power  which 
alone  can  make  humanity  truly  live,  the  moral 
and  spiritual  vital  force  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

It  is  also  evident,  I  think,  that  as  His  claim  to 
be  the  truth  can  be  fairly  explained  only  by  some 
such  idea  of  His  personality  as  that  which  the 
apostles  taught,  so  likewise  His  claim  to  be  the 
life  can  be  fairly  explained  only  by  some  such  idea 
of  His  spiritual  relationship  to  His  people  as  is 
taught  by  the  same  witnesses.  Indeed,  in  this 
very  chapter  it  is  recorded  that  He  said,  "  Because 
I  live,  ye  shall  live  also."  "  I  am  in  My  Father, 
and  ye  in  Me,  and  I  in  you."  Such  expressions 
imply  that  the  believer  is  united  with  Christ  by 
some  invisible  tie,  corresponding  to  the  depending 
of  branches  on  a  vine,  and  of  such  a  nature  that 
His  life  supports  and  works  through  theirs,  and 
His  immortality  pledges  theirs.  **  I  am,"  He  said, 
"  the  life  of  God's  people.  They  are  to  abide  in 
Me.  I  will  dwell  in  them.  We  two  shall  have 
one  life.  I  will  live  in  them  and  from  them  shall 
bring  forth  the  fruits  of  My  power." 

But,  as  in  the  former  case,  I  would  rather  per- 
suade you  of  the  truth  of  this  claim  than  discuss 
its  doctrinal  meaning. 

That  Christ  is  the  life  of  His  own  teaching, 
I  have  already  shown.     His  person  gives  power 


136  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

to  His  moral  commands — power  to  His  doctrine 
of  salvation.  On  His  being  their  force  depends. 
But  is  not  this  marvelously  realized  in  the  case  of 
all  who  recognize  that  truth  ?  Christ  is  a  power 
which  men  feel  as  a  quickening  touch.  Account 
for  it  as  we  may,  when  once  He  really  obtains 
hold  of  a  human  mind,  He  makes  it  live  as  it 
never  did  before.  Life  and  death  are  opposites, 
and  by  thinking  how  dead  to  divine  things  men 
are  by  nature,  the  meaning  of  new  life  becomes 
clear.  They  do  not  love  God  though  He  is  in- 
finitely beautiful  and  good.  They  do  not  serve 
others,  save  in  a  narrow  way,  though  there  is  so 
much  need  for  service.  They  are  indifferent  to 
the  claims  of  many  duties.  They  are  absorbed  in 
selfish  work  and  pleasure.  They  would  be  glad 
if  there  were  no  God. 

Is  not  this  rightly  called  death  ?  It  is  the  de- 
struction of  the  best  and  purest  sides  of  the  hu- 
man being,  and  the  beginning  of  corruption  and 
moral  decay.  But  is  it  not  the  fact  that  when 
Christ  obtains  hold  of  a  man,  this  death  ceases 
and  its  opposite  begins  ?  We  could  point  you 
to  cases  as  significant  of  His  power  as  when 
He  called  Lazarus  from  the  grave  or  tlie  young 
man  of  Nain  from  his  bier.  Explain  the  process 
as  we  may,  the  fact  of  a  new  life  appears.     Men 


THE  WAY,  THE  TRUTH,  AND  THE  LIFE    137 

strive  after  new  ideals.  They  are  controlled  by 
new  motives.  They  love  new  objects.  They  are 
impelled  by  new  energies.  God  becomes  their 
Father,  righteousness  their  aim,  and  service  their 
desire.  Thus  Christ  shows  Himself  the  life  of  a 
soul,  and  by  every  test  of  right  living  which  we 
can  apply  He  proves  Himself  to  be  the  author 
of  it. 

Still  further,  He  makes  life  for  us  in  another 
sense.  We  often  call  a  thing  our  life  which  gives 
us  the  most  joy  and  peace.  We  all  know  that 
life  is  more  than  drawing  breath.  Our  life  consists 
in  the  value  of  the  work  that  we  are  doing,  or  in 
the  sweetness  of  the  pleasures  that  we  are  tasting ; 
and  I  affirm  that  in  this  sense  also  Christ  is  the 
life.  For  in  the  experience  of  those  over  whom 
He  does  obtain  control,  He  brings  the  utmost 
satisfaction  which  man  knows  on  earth.  Nothing 
is  more  disappointing  in  the  end  than  a  selfish, 
worldly  life.  Nothing  is  more  satisfying  than  a 
Christian  life.  Christ  gives  us  work  to  do  which 
is  worth  doing,  and  which  when  it  is  done  does 
not  leave  mere  fatigue  behind.  He  gives  us  the 
object  in  life  which  is  worth  realizing  and  which 
does  not  mock  us  when  we  reach  it  as  do  most  of 
the  objects  for  which  men  strive.  He  gives  us  a 
hope  which  is  never  disappointed,  which  always 


138  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

has  new  promises  in  store  when  the  lesser  ones 
have  been  enjoyed ;  which  shines  as  a  star  in  the 
darkest  night  of  trouble  and  breaks  like  the  rising 
sun  upon  our  dying  eyes.  He  is  the  life  of  His 
people,  the  eternal  spring  from  which  they  draw 
refreshing  waters,  the  perfect  satisfaction  of  their 
immortal  souls. 

Then  all  this  rises  to  a  still  more  sublime  idea. 
He  is  the  life  of  His  people  which  was  taken  for 
their  sake,  the  life-blood.  All  this  is  true  because 
He  really  lives.  We  do  not  know  how  dependent 
we  are  on  Him  any  more  than  we  realize  how  de- 
pendent this  world  is  on  the  sun.  He  is  doing  a 
work  for  us  day  by  day  of  which  we  receive  the 
benefits.  He  is  protecting  us  from  evil.  He  is 
maintaining  our  cause  before  God.  He  is  govern- 
ing the  world  for  the  sake  of  His  kingdom  and  its 
subjects.  He  is  giving  us  temporal  blessing  and 
spiritual  help.  Thus  He  is  making  His  truth 
effective  and  applying  it  to  our  only  too  reluctant 
minds.  It  is  not  the  truth  alone  which  saves,  but 
the  Christ  who  comes  to  us  through  the  truth  ; 
for  He,  not  it,  is  the  life  of  them  who  know  and 
test  His  power. 

Does  it  seem  to  you  doubtful  that  the  world  is 
reaching  the  better  life  through  the  influence  and 
power  of  Christ  in  it  ?     Are  there  not  thousands 


THE  WAY.  THE  TRUTH.   AND  THE  LIFE 


139 


upon  thousands  of  men  and  women  who  seem  to 
you  to  have  found  in  Him  the  best  character  and 
the  best  aspirations  that  it  is  possible  to  have  on 
earth  ?  Do  you  not  see  the  fruits  of  righteous- 
ness and  the  flowers  of  holy  grace  being  borne 
upon  this  vine  ?  Is  it  not  a  wonder  to  you  that 
those  who  deny  themselves  the  most  for  Him  find 
the  most  pleasure  in  His  service,  and  that  those 
who  follow  Him  the  most  closely  are  the  best  and 
happiest  of  men  ?  Surely  these  are  sufficient 
signs  of  the  still  better  life  which  is  beginning  and 
which  will  be  made  perfect  in  God's  house  above. 
If  so,  with  what  perfect  truth  could  Jesus  say, 
*'  I  am  the  life." 

Now  mark  the  conclusion  and  climax.  If  He 
be  thus  the  truth  and  the  life,  then  He  is,  indeed, 
the  way.  Taking  this  truth,  sharing  this  life,  a 
man  is  fast  journeying  toward  God.  Christ  can 
now  truly  say,  "  I  am  the  way."  Elsewhere  He 
said,  "  I  am  the  door:  by  Me  if  any  man  enter  in, 
he  shall  be  saved."  To  receive  Him  as  the  truth, 
to  accept  Him  as  the  life,  is  to  enter  through  the 
door  and  to  go  along  the  way  which  leads  straight 
to  God. 

Are  you  in  this  way  ?  In  Christ  you  are  safe. 
If  not,  will  you  not  enter  it  ?  There  is  no  other 
way.      You  need  atonement,  and  His  blood  alone 


HO  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

cleanses  from  all  sin.  You  need  divine  love,  and 
He  is  that  love.  You  need  instruction,  and  He  is 
the  truth.  You  need  power,  and  He  is  the  life. 
Imagine  a  man  lost  in  a  forest, — baffled,  afraid,  in 
danger,  lost, — finding  a  man,  a  woodsman.  Could 
the  latter  not  say,  "  I  am  the  way  "  ?  Following 
his  guidance,  depending  on  his  knowledge,  trust- 
ing his  word,  the  lost  man  finds  his  deliv^erance. 
So,  I  may  say,  amid  the  confusion  of  this  world, 
ignorant  and  lost  are  we,  and  unto  us  Christ 
comes,  saying,  "  I  am  the  way,"  and  following  His 
guidance,  depending  on  His  knowledge,  trusting 
His  word,  we  shall  escape  and  be  delivered. 
What  I  have  said  to  prove  that  He  is  the  truth 
and  the  life,  ought  to  convince  all  that  He  is  the 
way.  I  point  you  to  Him.  I  invite  you  to  Him. 
He  that  foUoweth  this  way  shall  not  walk  in  dark- 
ness, but  shall  have  the  light  of  life. 


VII 
EARTHLY  AND  HEAVENLY  LIGHTS 


1 

i 


VII 


EARTHLY  AND  HEAVENLY  LIGHTS 

*'  And  the  city  had  no  need  of  the  sun,  neither  of  the  moon, 
to  shine  in  it :  for  the  glory  of  God  did  lighten  it,  and  the  Lamb 
is  the  light  thereof. — Rev.  xxi,  23. 

*'  And  they  need  no  candle,  neither  light  of  the  sun ;  for  the 
Lord  God  giveth  them  light." — Rev.  xxii.  5. 

St.  John's  description  of  the  new  Jerusalem, 
which  in  vision  he  beheld  coming  down  from  God, 
prepared  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband,  is 
often  regarded  as  a  description  of  heaven.  It  is 
so,  but  only  because  it  is  much  more.  It  is  a  de- 
scription of  the  ideal  state  of  the  Church,  the 
realization  of  her  life  in  her  best  form,  the  sym- 
bolical picture  of  that  which  she  is  to  be  and 
toward  which  she  is  continually  to  strive.  This 
ideal  state  will  no  doubt  be  fully  attained  only 
when  that  final  condition  of  things  arrives  to  which 
we  give  preeminently  the  name  of  heaven.  If  we 
reserve  that  term  for  the  great  consummation 
which  lies  beyond  the  resurrection  and  the  judg- 
ment, for  that  new  heaven  and  earth  in  which  will 
dwell  righteousness,  for  that  distant  age  and  place 

143 


144  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

of  which  we  know  neither  the  time  nor  the  loca- 
tion, but  to  w^hich  as  to  an  indisputable  reality  we 
are  pointed,  both  by  our  own  hopes  of  immortaHty 
and  yet  more  plainly  by  the  Christian  Scriptures ; 
if,  I  say,  we  confine  the  term  heaven  to  this  final 
happy  state  of  human  existence,  we  may  be  con- 
fident that  then  and  there  first  will  the  ideal  of 
Christian  life  be  attained  by  the  myriads  of  the 
redeemed. 

But  while  we  thus  look  forward  we  should  not 
forget  that  the  ultimate  result  will  be  the  out- 
growth of  those  spiritual  forces  which  are  even  now 
acting  upon  and  in  us.  Heaven  will  be  the  prod- 
uct of  the  better  life  which  by  God's  grace  has 
already  begun.  It  will  not  be  established  by  any 
reversal  of  the  laws  under  which  we  now  are,  but 
by  their  triumph.  It  will  be  the  fruit  of  the  seed 
planted  here.  It  will  be  the  glorious  issue  of  the 
gospel  which  we  now  believe.  It  is  an  ideal,  hov- 
ering as  it  were  over  our  present  faulty  and  strug- 
gling lives,  an  ideal  toward  which  we  are  to  strive, 
the  spirit  of  which  we  are  as  much  as  possible  to 
realize,  and  an  ideal  which  by  our  faith  in  God  and 
Christ  we  may  be  certain  will  not  vanish  as  we 
approach  it,  but  will  be  finally  and  forever  estab- 
lished. 

This  view  of  the  matter  is  important.     It  makes 


EARTHLY  AND  HEAVENLY  LIGHTS        145 

us  see  that  what  the  Bible  says  about  heaven  is 
not  in  the  least  disconnected  with  our  present 
duty.  It  is  a  practical  doctrine  when  thus  viewed. 
It  is  not  a  mere  dream  of  minds  weary  with  pres- 
ent toil  and  care,  not  a  mere  refuge  for  souls  dis- 
heartened by  the  daily  battle  of  life,  not  a  mere 
compensation  for  present  losses,  not,  as  we  so  often 
wrongly  make  it,  a  contrast  with  that  we  now 
possess.  It  is  a  promise  for  those  who  toil,  that 
they  shall  not  be  unrewarded,  an  assurance  of  the 
worth  of  that  which  now  is  in  Christian  experience 
of  the  grandeur  of  that  in  which  it  will  issue. 

The  farmer  should  not  dreami  of  an  abundant 
harvest  while  he  idles  away  his  time  and  lets  his 
fields  go  to  waste.  His  dream  of  harvest  ought  to 
drive  him  to  the  plow  and  to  incessant  care  for 
the  delicate,  springing  grain.  The  citizen  must  not 
dream  of  an  old  age  of  fame  and  wealth  and 
leisure,  if  he  takes  his  leisure  in  youth  and  does 
not  bend  his  energies  to  the  hard  toil  which  pres- 
ent opportunity  offers  him.  This  dream  has  no 
possibility  of  being  realized  unless  he  now  works 
and  lays  the  foundations  of  the  future  by  industry 
of  hand,  culture  of  brain,  and  refinement  of  heart. 
So  our  Christian  dreams  of  heaven  are  to  be  kept 
in  contact  with  our  earthly  life.  In  very  scanty 
measure  have  they  been  given  us  at  all  in  the 
10 


146  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

pages  of  the  Bible,  and  then  manifestly  with  the 
purpose  of  impeUing  us  to  a  right  use  of  our 
present  lives  and  of  the  agencies  which  Christ  has 
established  on  earth  for  the  service  of  God  and 
man. 

So  you  will  observe  that  John's  description  of 
the  holy  city  consists  to  a  considerable  degree 
of  negations.  "  There  shall  be  no  more  death, 
neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be 
any  more  pain."  "  I  saw,"  he  says,  "  no  temple 
therein."  "There  shall  be  no  more  curse."  "There 
shall  be  no  night  there."  But  these  negations  of 
evil  are  reported  as  the  result  of  the  possession 
of  positive  good  w^hich  by  its  unobstructed  energy 
has  driven  the  evil  away.  God  has  made  all 
things  new,  and  therefore  the  former  things  are 
passed  away.  The  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the 
Lamb  are  the  temple  of  it,  and  therefore  he  saw 
no  temple  therein.  The  throne  of  God  and  of 
the  Lamb  shall  be  in  it  and  His  servants  shall 
serve  Him,  and  therefore  there  shall  be  no  more 
curse.  The  glory  of  God  did  lighten  it  and  the 
Lamb  is  the  light  thereof,  and  therefore  there 
shall  be  no  night  there ;  and  they  need  no  candle, 
neither  light  of  the  sun. 

In  other  words,  the  fullness  of  life,  knowledge, 
and  enjoyment  has  destroyed  every  trace  of  death, 


EARTHLY  AND  HEAVENLY  LIGHTS        147 

ignorance,  and  sorrow.  The  mingled  good  and 
evil  which  we  now  meet  exists  no  more.  The 
clouds  no  more  obscure  the  sun.  Disease  no 
more  attacks  the  vital  powers.  The  exuberant 
vitality  of  the  redeemed  souls  has  shaken  off 
the  possibility  of  evil,  and  round  the  Hfe  of  God 
in  man  a  new  world  has  formed,  one  irradiated  by 
the  truth,  beatified  by  the  love,  purified  by  the 
Spirit,  rejoicing  in  the  presence  of  God  and  the 
Lamb.  All  this  triumph  of  good  over  evil  is  the 
splendid  fruitage  of  the  seed  which  was  sown  in 
tears  and  nourished  through  the  conflicts  of  time 
by  the  Christ  and  His  people. 

Now  I  venture  to  call  your  attention  to  one 
item  of  the  apostle's  description  which  contains 
a  specially  valuable  suggestion,  under  its  figura- 
tive form,  concerning  both  our  present  duty  and 
future  hopes.  Amid  the  glories  of  ideal  pictures, 
John  observes  the  absence  of  any  need  of  light- 
giving  bodies,  because  all  is  illuminated  by  the 
brilliant  outshining  of  God  and  the  Lamb.  It 
needs  no  argument  to  prove  that  his  language 
is  figurative  and  symbolical.  Light  is  in  Scrip- 
ture the  commonest  emblem  of  knowledge,  par- 
ticularly of  moral  and  spiritual  knowledge,  and 
God  as  the  source  of  this  is  called  by  tliis  same 
appellation, — Light    itself      There    would    seem 


148  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

then  to  be  little  room  for  doubt  as  to  the  mean- 
ing of  this  feature  of  the  inspired  and  inspiring 
vision.  He  means  to  say  that  the  imperfect,  par- 
tial, temporary  lights  by  which  we  now  live  are 
to  be  made  needless  by  the  supreme  manifesta- 
tion of  Himself  which  God  through  Christ  will 
make.  Let  me  try  to  unfold  the  ideas  which 
seem  to  be  contained  in  this  pictured  thought. 
First,  there  is  the  implication  that  the  lights 
by  which  we  now  live  are  in  a  sense  imperfect. 
They  are  small  and  chiefly  dull ;  they  are  meant 
to  serve  a  temporary  purpose.  As  I  have  said, 
the  language  is  the  language  of  symbol  and 
figure.  What  John  meant  to  say  may  perhaps 
be  most  clearly  seen  if  we  use  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  text  the  verse  which  precedes  it. 
"  I  saw,"  John  there  says,  "  no  temple  there- 
in." We  can  understand  what  that  meant  to 
a  Christian  Jew.  The  temple  was  the  supreme 
symbol  of  the  Jewish  faith.  It  was  the  place 
where  God  dwelt  among  His  people.  Its  rites 
illustrated  the  way  in  which  God  was  to  be  ap- 
proached by  man.  It  was  the  concrete  expres- 
sion of  the  old  dispensation.  It  was  the  em- 
bodiment of  revelation  so  far  as  that  had  then 
been  made.  Consequently,  for  him  to  see  no 
temple   in  the  new  Jerusalem   was  as  much   as 


EARTHLY  AND  HEAVENLY  LIGHTS        149 

to  say  that  the  old  means  of  teaching,  the  old  ex- 
pressions of  the  truth,  have  passed  away.  He 
now  says  that  God  and  the  Lamb  are  the  temple 
of  it.  The  type  has  been  fulfilled  and  so  has 
ceased  to  be  needed ;  the  reality  which  it  fore- 
shadowed has  been  reached.  The  ideal  has  so 
far  been  attained  and  the  temporary  structure 
and  the  temporary  rites  which  prepared  for  that 
ideal  have  done  their  work  and  passed  away. 
In  like  manner  does  he  speak  in  our  text ;  only 
now  his  view  is  broader.  All  the  lights  by  which 
men  now  live  are  but  preparations  for  a  better, 
Man's  whole  life  on  earth  is  to  the  grander 
future  what  the  Hebrew  dispensation  was  to 
the  Christian  age.  We  are  still  in  the  region 
of  types,  though  of  a  greater  and  less  evident 
kind  than  those  of  Moses,  and  while  the  lights 
we  live  by  are  as  the  sun  to  a  candle  when  com- 
pared with  what  is  past,  they  are  but  as  candles 
themselves  when  compared  with  what  is  to 
come. 

Thus,  reason  is  one  of  the  lights  we  now  live 
by;  and  yet  it  is  not  hard  to  show  that  reason 
is  but  a  candle-power  illuminating  dimly  to  us 
the  spiritual  world.  Some  men  profess  to  make 
reason  the  sole  guide  of  belief  and  life,  but  it 
does  not   require  much   agility  in  logic  to  show 


I50 


THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 


that  on  the  deepest  questions  which  harass  human 
thought  reason  has  httle  or  nothing  to  say.  I  do 
not  mean  for  one  moment  to  disparage  the  use 
of  reason  even  in  religion,  but  simply  to  suggest 
that  its  power  and  its  authority  are  limited.  By 
reason  is  meant  the  intelligence  with  which  we 
are  endowed,  the  power  of  observation  and  re- 
flection which  distinguish  man  from  the  brute. 
These  are  not  to  be  disparaged  save  when  they 
claim  for  themselves  a  power  which  can  be  shown 
not  to  belong  to  them.  But  certainly  reason 
can  form  conclusions  only  upon  the  basis  of 
evidence  which  has  been  presented  to  it.  It  can 
scan  and  meditate  upon  the  external  world  and 
draw  its  conclusions  as  to  the  forces  which  are 
operating  there,  as  to  its  past  history,  so  far  as 
records  of  this  remain,  and  as  to  its  present 
use.  It  can  examine  the  mind  likewise  and 
draw  its  conclusions  concerning  the  constitution 
of  the  mind  and  its  relation  to  external  things. 
Reason  can  study  the  experience  of  the  past  and 
infer  therefrom  what  is  probably  the  wisest  course 
for  men  to  follow  now.  It  can  reflect  and  specu- 
late and  draw  its  inference  concerning  both  things 
seen  and  things  unseen.  But  it  can  act  only  on 
the  evidence  presented  it.  If  there  be  any  sphere 
of  which  it  has  had  no  experience  it  can  tell  us 


EARTHLY  AND  HEAVENLY  LIGHTS        151 

nothing.  Even  when  it  can  tell  us  something, 
there  is  much  that  it  cannot  understand. 

Moreover,  it  is  a  very  delicate  instrument  of 
knowledge,  easily  thrown  out  of  order.  Let  one 
trifling  element  of  a  problem  be  unobserved,  and 
the  conclusions  of  reason  are  valueless.  Let 
prejudice  or  personal  preference  influence  it  and 
it  follows  instead  of  leading  the  will,  so  that  while 
reason  is  one  of  the  two  or  three  noblest  prerog- 
atives of  man,  and  while  every  intelligent  person 
is  responsible  for  the  use  he  makes  of  it,  he  is 
a  bold  advocate  indeed  who  does  not  admit  that 
it  is  a  partial  and  imperfect  light  to  hve  by. 
What  certain  answer  can  it  make  about  the  char- 
acter of  God  or  His  will  concerning  the  future, 
or  the  means  of  man's  salvation  ?  This,  in  fact, 
is  substantially  the  conclusion  to  which  even 
unbelief  has  come  itself,  for  after  centuries  of 
conflict,  and  after  the  world  has  seen  gigantic 
webs  of  speculation  spun  by  the  alleged  reason 
of  mankind,  the  result  has  been,  professed  ag- 
nosticism. This  seems  to  me  a  considerable 
gain :  for  it  at  least  confesses  that  on  skeptical 
principles  we  can  know  nothing  of  the  deeper 
problems  which  never  cease  to  press  upon  the 
human  mind. 

So,  too,  conscience  is  one  of  the  lights  we  live 


152  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

by,  which  again  can  be  shown  to  be  but  a  partial 
and  imperfect  guide.  Conscience  throws  a  hght 
which  reason,  apart  from  it,  does  not  throw ; 
namely,  it  reveals  to  us  that  there  is  a  difference 
between  right  and  wrong,  and  that  every  man  is 
under  supreme  obligation  to  do  what  is  right.  It 
is  scarcely  credible  that  this  should  be  if  there 
were  not  a  moral  Lawgiver  over  the  world,  and 
hence  conscience,  like  the  moon,  may  be  said  to 
reflect  a  light  from  a  source  higher  than  itself 
Yet  conscience  is  but  a  partial  light.  It  too  only 
acts  on  evidence  presented  to  us,  tells  us  that  of 
two  courses,  perhaps,  one  is  right  and  the  other 
wrong,  but  it  does  not  tell  us  of  itself  all  that  is 
right  or  all  that  we  ought  to  do.  Moreover  it  is 
easily  blinded,  easily  bewildered,  sometimes  like  a 
bad  compass  pointing  in  the  wrong  direction.  It 
has  inspired  and  justified  deeds  of  horrible  cruelty 
and  tyranny.  It  may  be  so  dull  of  ear  as  scarcely 
to  hear  the  demand  made  on  it  for  a  decision.  It 
may  mistake  forms  for  realities.  It  needs  itself  to 
be  enlightened  and  quickened  in  order  even  to  do 
its  own  proper  work. 

Now  I  add  that  even  revelation  is  but  a  partial 
and  in  one  sense  an  imperfect  light.  The  Bible 
does  not  pretend  to  give  us  all  the  truth,  not  even 
all  the  truth  about  God.     It  does  not  attempt  to 


EARTHLY  AND  HEAVENLY  LIGHTS        153 

solve  all  the  weighty  questions  which  inquiring 
minds  are  anxious  to  put  to  it.  Nothing  is  more 
noteworthy  than  its  reserve  and  its  silence  when 
taken  in  connection  with  its  claims  and  its  teach- 
ings. No  one  judges  it  aright  who  does  not  keep 
in  mind  the  limitations  which  it  puts  upon  itself. 
Even  the  apostle  Paul  wrote,  "  Now  we  see  in  a 
mirror  darkly,  .  .  .  now  I  know  in  part."  The 
Bible  throws  its  light  preeminently  upon  the  one 
great  question  of  man's  redemption  from  sin. 
Here  it  is  like  the  sun,  and  the  light  it  throws  is 
clear  and  beautiful.  In  this  it  reveals  what  reason 
could  not  have  discovered,  namely,  redemption ; 
what  conscience  would  never  have  made  certain, 
namely,  forgiveness.  But  as  the  sun  does  not 
illuminate  the  vast  universe  beyond  our  system, 
so  the  Bible  was  not  meant  to  cast  its  light  on  the 
entire  universe  of  spirits.  True,  by  its  aid  we 
may  obtain  glimpses  that  otherwise  would  be 
closed  to  us,  suggestions  that  serve  at  least  to 
warn  us  against  opposing  theories.  But  its  light 
falls  upon  the  Christ.  It  is  written,  as  John  said 
his  gospel  was,  that  we  might  believe  on  the  name 
of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God.  Brilliant  is  its 
light  when  compared  with  what  we  would  have 
without  it,  but  it  is  so  manifestly  adapted  to  be 
man's  present  guide  in  practical  duty  that  it  is  in 


154  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

no  wise  derogatory  to  its  claims  to  say  that  it  is 
not  and  does  not  pretend  to  be  a  complete  dis- 
closure of  truth  to  the  human  mind  even  about 
God. 

Such  are  examples  of  the  lights  which  shine 
here.  I  do  not  say  the  apostle  meant  them,  but 
they  exhibit  his  idea. 

Now  the  practical  importance  of  these  facts  is 
sometimes  very  great.  They  bear  in  two  direc- 
tions. On  the  one  hand,  they  warn  us  against 
being  unduly  distressed  because  these  lights,  and 
particularly  the  Bible,  do  not  tell  us  all  we  want 
to  know.  Why  will  men  find  fault  with  the  truth 
which  has  been  made  known  because  more  is  not 
made  known?  Because  they  have  an  exaggerated 
idea  of  what  is  possible  under  present  circum- 
stances, because  they  impute  to  the  Bible,  in  par- 
ticular, claims  which  it  does  not  make.  When 
you  are  given  a  guide  book  you  do  not  expect  it 
to  be  an  encyclopedia.  When  you  are  given  a 
compass  you  do  not  expect  it  to  be  a  telescope. 
There  are  many  things  in  relation  to  God  and  to 
ourselves  about  which  we  have  as  yet  no  means 
of  information,  and  he  who  for  that  reason  quar- 
rels with  what  we  may  know,  acts  on  a  princi- 
ple according  to  which  he  would  not  think  of 
acting  in  any  other  sphere  of  life.     For,  on  the 


EARTHLY  AND  HEAVENLY  LIGHTS        155 

other  hand,  the  lisrht  we  have  is  real  Horht,  even 
though  it  do  not  illuminate  all  things.  The  can- 
dle does  giv^e  some  light  even  though  it  be  not 
sunlight.  Reason  is  trustworthy  so  far  as  it  goes 
and  when  acting  fairly.  Conscience  is  an  au- 
thority the  commands  of  which  we  are  bound  to 
obey,  though  we  must  try  to  educate  it.  Above 
all,  the  Bible  is  true.  The  Christ  whom  it  dis- 
closes is  real.  The  life  to  which  it  points  is  the 
best.  The  knowledge  of  God  which  it  gives  is 
real  knowledge.  If  a  man  can  obtain  fifty  per 
cent  of  a  bad  debt  he  would  better  take  it  than 
take  nothing ;  and  the  truths  of  reason,  conscience, 
and  revelation  are  not  to  be  despised  because 
they  are  not  all  we  want  to  have.  They  are  the 
lights  we  have  to  live  by.  We  may  trust  so 
far  as  they  shine,  and  that  man  does  not  seem 
to  be  a  wise  one  who  refuses  to  make  the  most 
of  what  he  does  possess. 

All  this,  however,  belongs  to  the  negative 
aspect  of  the  text.  Let  us  now  turn  to  the  posi- 
tive. If  it  be  true  that  the  lights  we  now  live 
by  are  partial  and  imperfect,  it  is  also  true  that 
a  brighter  light,  yea,  the  brightest  of  all  lights, 
is  to  take  their  place  to  the  eye  of  the  Christian 
believer.  The  ideal  day  is  pictured  by  the  apos- 
tle.    It  is  a  day  without  a  sun.     It  is  a  day  with- 


156  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

out  ending.  It  is  a  day  of  cloudless  brilliance. 
These,  as  I  have  said,  are  emblematical  expres- 
sions, pointing  to  the  gloriously  complete  knowl- 
edge into  which  the  believer  is  moving.  He  is 
ever  advancing  into  the  light.  He  sails  eastward 
tow^ard  an  ever-rising  sun.  With  his  entrance 
into  the  kingdom  the  light  first  broke  upon  his 
mind,  and  with  his  journey  upward  it  grows  in 
brightness,  until  at  last  he  shall  no  longer  know 
in  part,  but  know  as  he  is  known.  So  John  repre- 
sents the  fullness  of  Christian  illumination  in  his 
picture  of  the  holy  city  which  has  no  need  of 
the  sun,  neither  of  the  moon  to  shine  in  it,  for 
the  glory  of  God  lightens  it,  and  the  Lamb  is 
the  light  thereof  If  now  we  translate  this  lan- 
guage into  common  prose,  what  are  we  to  under- 
stand as  the  apostle's  idea  of  the  brighter  light 
by  which  the  lights  we  now  live  by  are  to  be 
made  unnecessary? 

He  evidently  means  first  to  represent  by  it 
the  consequence  of  perfect  fellowship  of  the  soul 
of  man  with  God.  He  pictures  a  life  in  which 
the  thought  is  in  absolute  sympathy  with  God's 
mind,  the  heart  in  absolute  accord  with  God's 
character,  the  will  in  absolute  harmony  with  God's 
purposes.  It  is  the  life  of  those  who  in  every 
part  of  their  being  have  been  reconciled  to  God, 


I 


EARTHLY  AND  HEAVENLY  LIGHTS        157 

not  merely  forgiven,  but  restored,  and  who  dwell 
with  Him  not  only  in  the  sense  of  being  citizens 
of  His  holy  city,  but  in  the  deeper  sense  of  being 
in  personal  communion  with  Him.  This  picture 
is  but  the  symbolical  representation  of  the  per- 
fection of  that  life  which  he  claimed  to  be  even 
now  the  portion  of  Christ's  people  when  he  said 
in*  his  first  epistle,  "  Our  fellowship  is  with  the 
Father,  and  with  His  Son  Jesus  Christ."  Now 
we  know  that,  even  in  secular  affairs,  when  a  man 
habituates  himself  to  the  study  of  any  particular 
subject  he  attains  an  expert  knowledge  of  it  so 
that  he  is  able  to  derive  information  from  it  which 
others  never  could  derive,  so  that  he  sees  at  a 
glance  the  bearing  on  it  of  new  facts  and  is  able 
in  turn  to  test  alleged  facts  by  it.  We  know 
likewise  that  through  long  and  intimate  associ- 
ation two  friends  may  come  to  know  each  other's 
mind,  almost  to  read  each  other's  thoughts,  to 
become,  so  to  speak,  merged  in  each  other's  life, 
till  in  a  true  sense  they  are  no  longer  two,  but  one. 
Every  earnest  Christian  knows  that  something 
of  the  same  sort  takes  place  between  himself  and 
God.  As  he  studies  the  Scriptures,  as  he  habituates 
himself  to  prayer,  as  he  learns  more  and  more 
to  think  of  God  and  to  obey  Him,  as  he  medi- 
tates upon  God's  revealed  character  and  will,  he 


158  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

obtains  a  knowledge  of  Him  which  is  far  more 
profound  than  intellectual  knowledge,  the  knowl- 
edge which  is  born  of  sympathy,  love,  and  coopera- 
tion. Thus  Paul  prayed  that  he  might  know 
Christ.  Thus  Christ  said,  "  This  is  hfe  eternal, 
that  they  might  know  Thee  the  only  true  God, 
and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  Thou  hast  sent."  Even 
in  this  world  we  may  find  those  in  whose  hearts 
God  has  been  so  manifestly  revealed  that  we  in- 
stinctively feel  that  they  can  lead  us  nearer  to 
Him  than  any  other  channel  can.  It  is  the  per- 
fection of  this  experimental  knowledge  which  I 
suppose  the  apostle  to  picture  to  us  in  the  life  of 
the  new  Jerusalem.  There  God  will  be  intimately 
known.  No  doubt  will  be  possible.  No  fear 
will  ever  cloud  the  consciousness  of  His  presence. 
No  rebellion  will  ever  call  for  the  strings  of  con- 
science to  drive  us  back  to  duty.  Love  will  be 
unfettered.  God's  love  will  be  a  perpetual  sun- 
light answered  in  our  love  by  a  perpetual  song 
of  praise.  The  redeemed  will  know  Him ;  and 
the  helps  to  knowledge  which  before  they  used 
will  be  made  needless  by  the  personal  fellowship 
and  the  increased  appreciation  of  His  fatherhood 
which,  through  the  growth  of  their  Christian 
lives,  they   should    attain. 

Now  notice   still   more   particularly  the   apos- 


EARTHLY  AND  HEAVENLY  LIGHTS        159 

tie's  language :  "  The  glory  of  God  did  lighten 
it."  Men  have  often  imagined  that  the  height 
of  heavenly  bliss  will  consist  in  what  they  have 
called  the  beatific  vision,  by  which  they  mean 
that  in  some  way  to  the  purified  spirits  of  the 
just  the  Infinite  One,  of  whom  it  is  said  that 
He  dwelleth  in  the  light  that  no  man  can  approach 
unto,  will  be  to  their  minds,  as  it  were,  visibly 
made  manifest.  I  do  not  know  whether  this  idea 
is  true  or  false.  But  this  is  clear,  that  when  the 
spirits  of  just  men  are  made  perfect,  and  when 
the  soul  is  in  every  quality  of  its  being  reconciled 
to  God,  His  excellence  will  appear  transcendently 
real  and  supremely  beautiful.  This  is  His  glory. 
His  glory  is  a  term  used  to  express  God's  re- 
vealed excellence.  We  see  it  now  in  the  wisdom 
made  manifest  even  by  nature,  in  the  power  shown 
by  the  creation  and  support  of  the  universe,  in 
the  goodness  of  Providence,  in  the  holiness  of 
His  moral  law,  in  the  righteousness  of  His  deal- 
ing, and,  finally,  and  most  supremely,  in  the  love 
of  His  redemption.  To  a  beheving  mind  this 
glory  already  appears,  and  I  call  you  to  witness, 
fellow-Christians,  if  as  we  advance  in  our  spiritual 
life  the  glory  of  God  has  not  become  more  beau- 
tiful, more  real,  more  sublime,  until  it  has  become 
unspeakable. 


i6o  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

But  I  dare  appeal  to  the  experienced  knowledge 
of  the  universal  Church,  expressed  in  hymn  and 
prayer  and  meditation,  that  the  beauty  and  maj- 
esty, the  greatness  and  the  infinite  goodness  of 
God  are  truths  which  fill  the  mind  with  light, 
which  quiet  every  dark  inquiry,  and  shed  profound 
peace  upon  the  restless,  needy  soul  of  man.  This 
light  is  to  burn  with  greater  and  greater  bright- 
ness until  it  shines  in  its  full  splendor  in  the  soul 
of  the  redeemed. 

Now  to  this  he  adds,  "  The  Lamb  is  the 
light  thereof."  This  crowns  the  picture.  This 
unifies  the  description :  for  it  tells  us  that  the 
Redeemer  will  be  forever  and  forever  the  medium 
by  which  God  and  man  shall  be  made  one.  Evi- 
dently the  Christian  will  never  outgrow  Christ. 
If  he  enters  into  the  most  intimate  fellowship  with 
God  so  as  immediately  to  know  Him,  it  will  still 
be  God  in  Christ  that  he  will  know.  If  the  glory 
of  God  appear  to  him  in  supreme  splendor  it  still 
will  shine  in  the  face  and  through  the  kindred 
glory  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  Christ  there  dwelleth 
all  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead.  He  is  and  will 
ever  be  the  revealer  of  God  to  man.  It  will  al- 
ways be  true  that  he  that  hath  seen  Him  hath  seen 
the  Father.  Already  the  believer  begins  to  see 
Christ's  glory.     Through  Christ  his  fellowship  on 


EARTHLY  AND  HEAVENLY  LIGHTS        i6i 

earth  with  God  is   established.     Through  Christ 

the  Hght  breaks  in  upon  his  darkened  mind.    Unto 

all  eternity  God  will  become  nearer  because  Christ 

does,  God  will  become  clearer  and  more  beautiful 

as  revealed  in   Christ,  and  the  fullness  of  divine 

life  and  truth  which  is  in  Jesus  will  be  the  medium 

whereby  the  lights  we  now  live  by  are  eclipsed  in 

the  light  of  that  love  which   Christ  has   revealed 

on  Calvary,  but  with  all  eternity  will  never  cease, 

and  which  all  the  ages  will  never  cease  to  adore. 

I  say  the  Christian  will  never  outgrow  Christ,  but 

Christ  will   always  be  to  him  the  way,  the  truth, 

and  the  life,  the  light  not  only  of  this  world  but 

also  of  heaven. 

Such,  according  to   my   understanding   of  his 

words,  was  John's  idea  of  the  perfect  light.     He 

presents  it  as  the  ideal  of  the  Christian's  life,  and 

what  a  worthy  conception  it  creates  of  that  blessed 

estate  which  awaits  us  beyond  the  grave  !     Does 

not  this  really  tell  us  more  about  heaven  than  any 

literal  description  could  do   of  the  place  where 

heaven  is  or  of  the  way  in  which  we  shall  there 

be  employed  ?     Do  not  all  the  fancies  which  the 

mind  has  ever  devised  seem  poor  in  comparison 

with    these    broad,  yet    clear    outlines    of  perfect 

spiritual  life  ?     These  give  us  the  moral  realities 

of  heaven,  the  principles  on  which  life  will  there 
u 


i62  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

be  passed,  the  principles  which  it  is  important  for 
us  most  to  keep  in  mind  if  we  would  be  meet  for 
the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light.  "  To  dwell 
with  God,  to  feel  His  love,  is  the  full  heaven  en- 
joyed above,"  and  to  every  man  who  has  begun  to 
feel,  that  light  within  the  mind  is  more  important 
than  light  to  the  eyes.  To  every  man  who  has 
begun  to  feel,  that  true  life  is  a  matter  of  the  soul, 
not  of  the  body,  and  God  is  the  light  and  life  of 
the  soul ;  to  all  such  will  the  apostle's  description 
appear  the  very  highest  idea  of  heaven  which  can 
possibly  be  conceived. 

But,  you  will  now  see,  as  I  observed  in  the 
beginning,  that  the  description  of  this  ideal  state 
touches  very  closely  on  our  life  now,  so  that 
heaven  appears  as  only  the  attainment  of  that  for 
which  we  all  need  to  strive.  This  fellowship  with 
God,  this  perception  of  His  glory,  this  life  with 
Christ,  are  begun  on  earth.  Hence  a  new  value  is 
given  to  these  very  lights  which  are  said  to  be 
eclipsed  in  a  greater.  I  have  said  they  are  par- 
tial. They  are  not  perfect.  But  now  I  add  that 
by  the  use  we  make  of  them  are  we  to  prepare 
for  what  is  better.  The  light  of  reason  is  often 
faltering  and  dim,  but  we  are  to  use  it  now,  and 
when  joined  with  faith  it  will  train  our  power  and 
measurably  direct  our  lives.    Man  will  never  cease 


EARTHLY  AND  HEAVENLY  LIGHTS        163 

to  be  a  reasoning  being,  and  only  in  the  perfect 
light  of  Christian  experience  reason  will  find  its 
noblest  opportunity.  As  an  independent  light  it 
is  insufficient,  but  in  conjunction  with  the  Spirit  of 
wisdom  it  will  realize  its  true  worth.  So  con- 
science is  to  be  enlightened  and  obeyed,  and, 
above  all,  the  Scriptures  are  to  be  used  and 
trusted,  fed  upon  and  followed. 

These  are  the  hghts  for  us  to  liv^e  by  now.  As 
we  use  them,  the  light  of  God  Himself  will  break 
upon  us.  We  are  not  to  stumble  at  the  fact  that 
they  do  not  give  us  all  the  knowledge  we  want, 
but  are  to  use  them  so  that  they  may  lead  our 
minds  upward  and  onward.  Thus  heaven  is  to 
begin  on  earth.  He  who  beheld  the  vision  of  it 
turns  in  effect  to  tell  us,  **  Use  well,  use  diligently 
the  light  that  has  been  given  you.  Walk  in  the 
light.  Obey  Christ.  Fill  your  minds  with  the 
truth  that  has  been  revealed,  for  these  are  the 
lights  now  made  for  us  to  live  by,  and  while  the 
future  light  will  far  surpass  them,  it  will  do  so 
only  for  those  who  use  them  now  and  use  them 
well." 

Ah  !  we  dream  of  heaven,  but  we  do  not  realize 
that  it  must  begin  on  earth.  The  traveler  at  night 
must  follow  the  light  which  his  guide  holds,  know- 
ing that  though  it  do  not  illumine  the  heavens,  it 


i64  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

at  least  shows  him  the  way,  and  that  when  night 
is  past  the  sun  will  rise  and  the  heaven  be  illu- 
mined. So  he  who  follows  the  light  of  truth, 
which  the  Christ  of  the  Bible  holds  in  His  hand, 
will  tread  the  narrow  way  in  safety  here,  and  when 
the  day  dawns  all  the  light  he  wants  will  be  his. 
He  will  see  it  breaking,  see  it  brightening,  until  at 
last  he  shall  see  it  in  all  its  heavenly  splendor, 
when  he  shall  need  no  candle,  neither  light  of  the 
sun,  for  the  Lord  God  shall  give  him  light  that 
will  never  pass  away. 


VIII 
THE  WAITING  DEAD 


VIII 

THE  WAITING  DEAD 

"  And  when  the  days  of  his  mourning  were  past,  Joseph  spake 
unto  the  house  of  Pharaoh,  saying.  If  now  I  have  found  grace  in 
your  eyes,  speak,  I  pray  you,  in  the  ears  of  Pharaoh,  saying,  My 
father  made  me  swear,  saying,  Lo,  I  die  :  in  my  grave  which  I 
have  digged  for  me  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  there  shalt  thou  bury 
me.  .  .  .  And  Joseph  said  unto  his  brethren,  I  die :  and  God  will 
surely  visit  you,  and  bring  you  out  of  this  land  unto  the  land 
which  he  sware  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob.  And  Joseph 
took  an  oath  of  the  children  of  Israel,  saying,  God  will  surely 
visit  you,  and  ye  shall  carry  up  my  bones  from  hence," — Gen.  1. 
4,  5.  24,  25. 

Genesis  closes  with  the  account  of  the  burial 
of  two  of  its  most  illustrious  characters,  and  we 
are  impressed  with  the  fact  that  men,  whose  an- 
cestors had  been  called  from  a  distant  land  to 
Canaan  and  who  had  there  lived  quiet  and  com- 
paratively humble  lives,  were  laid  to  rest  amid  the 
mourning  and  with  all  the  honors  of  the  court 
of  Egypt.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  splendid  car- 
avan which  bore  to  the  old  tomb  in  Machpelah 
the  remains  of  Jacob.  He  was  escorted  not  by 
his  sons  alone,  but  by  the  chariots  and  horsemen 

167 


i68  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

of  Pharaoh.  It  was  the  burial  of  a  prince.  Gen- 
tile and  Hebrew  united  to  do  reverence  to  the 
father  of  Joseph.  The  Egyptian  court  went  into 
mourning.  So  large  was  the  escort,  so  royal  were 
the  signs  of  grief,  that  the  inhabitants  of  Canaan 
were  moved  by  the  spectacle  to  exclaim,  "  This  is 
a  grievous  mourning  to  the  Egyptians." 

When,  many  years  later,  Joseph  in  turn  died,  he 
was  carried,  doubtless,  to  his  sepulcher  with  even 
greater  pomp.  If  Jacob  were  worthy  of  such  a 
funeral  at  the  hands  of  Egypt,  how  much  more 
was  Joseph — the  savior  of  their  land!  Joseph, 
indeed,  was  buried  in  Egypt.  Jacob  had  lived 
there  but  a  few  years,  and  it  was  natural  that  his 
remains  should  be  returned  to  the  old  home. 
But  Joseph  was  identified  with  Egypt.  Accord- 
ing to  the  rites  of  Egyptian  society  was  he  laid  to 
rest,  followed  by  the  gratitude  and  honor  of  both 
his  kinsmen  and  the  people  and  dynasty  whom  he 
had  served  so  well.  This  first  book  of  the  Bible 
thus  dismisses  from  its  pages  the  sacred  house- 
hold of  Abraham  by  laying  upon  the  tombs  of 
Jacob  and  Joseph  the  honorable  tributes  of 
heathen  and  believer  alike. 

You  will  note,  however,  that  both  these  men 
died  with  their  thoughts  fixed  on  the  return  of 
Israel   to   Canaan,  and   with    hopes  built   on  the 


THE  WAITING  DEAD  169 

promises  made  to  Abraham.  Joseph  expressed 
his  faith  in  words.  Though  to  be  himself  buried 
in  Egypt,  he  exacted  an  oath  from  his  brethren, 
to  be  handed  down  to  the  time  of  the  exodus,  that 
they  should  carry  his  bones  with  them  to  the 
promised  land.  Not  in  Egypt  would  he  rest,  but 
in  the  land  of  promise,  as  though  in  his  future 
tomb  he  would  be  able  to  share  in  the  future 
glories  of  his  people.  Jacob  expressed  the  same 
thing  by  his  request  for  an  immediate  burial  in 
Canaan.  Canaan,  not  Egypt,  was  the  home  of 
Israel.  There  the  promises  of  God  were  to  be 
fulfilled ;  and  it  was  the  wish  of  Jacob  to  rest  with 
Abraham  and  Isaac,  in  the  hope,  perhaps,  that 
together  they  might  rise  to  share  in  the  joy  of 
coming  blessing. 

These  men  died,  therefore,  in  hope — Canaan 
was  their  home.  Canaan  was  to  be  the  possession 
of  their  children.  Canaan  was  to  witness  the 
kingdom  of  the  future,  the  glory  of  Israel,  the 
advent  of  the  promised  Prince  of  peace.  To  them 
death,  therefore,  was  but  a  season  of  waiting. 
They  do  not  seem  to  have  considered  it  as  cutting 
them  off  from  the  traditional  hopes  of  their  race. 
Jacob  in  Machpelah,  Joseph  embalmed  in  Egypt, 
were  but  waiting  for  the  time  to  come  in  the  prog- 
ress of  events  when  in  some  way  with  their  de- 


I70  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

scendants  they  should  partake  in  the  possession 
of  the  promised  land. 

The  burial  of  the  patriarchs,  therefore,  suggests 
the  thought  of  the  waiting  dead,  of  the  dead  as 
waiting  for  something  to  happen  whereby  their 
own  joys  would  be  made  complete.  Thus  the 
men  of  old  times  were  gathered  to  their  fathers, 
and  thus  we  also  lay  our  believing  friends  to  rest. 
While  the  Bible  sheds  but  little  light  upon  the 
world  beyond  the  grave,  while  it  refuses  to  answer 
many  questions  that  trembling  voices  raise,  this 
representation  of  the  dead  as  waiting  is  found  in 
the  New  as  well  as  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  is 
meant  to  have  practical  influence  upon  us  who  are 
still  alive.  For  what,  for  whom  do  they  wait? 
And  how? 

The  answer  is,  first,  that  they  are  waiting  for 
the  living.  In  what  sense  they  thus  wait  is  made 
evident  by  the  expressed  hopes  of  the  patriarchs. 
As  I  have  said,  these  men  died  thinking  less,  so 
far  as  is  recorded,  of  their  own  happiness  imme- 
diately after  death  and  more  of  the  blessing 
which  one  day  was  to  come  to  their  descendants. 
They  do  not  seem  to  have  thought  that  they 
would  be  by  death  excluded  from  it.  They  had 
themselves  laid  to  rest,  therefore,  in  the  promised 
land.     Therefore    it  was    that    Abraham    bought 


THE  WAITING  DEAD  171 

Machpelah  from  the  sons  of  Heth.  Therefore  it 
was  that  Isaac  and  Jacob  were  laid  in  the  same 
rocky  sepulcher.  Therefore  Joseph  gave  com- 
mandment concerning  his  bones.  They  were 
looking  to  the  future,  not  so  much  to  the  world 
beyond  death  itself  as  to  the  world  which  was  to 
come  on  earth,  to  the  fulfillment  on  earth  of  the 
promises  to  Abraham.  They  seem  to  have 
thought  of  death  mainly  as  a  resting  with  the 
fathers  who  were  already  dead  until  their  children 
should  have  inherited  the  land  and  received  the 
glory,  and  through  the  promised  seed,  the 
Shiloh,  have  become  a  blessing  to  all  people. 

Emphatically,  therefore,  these  dead  were  wait- 
ing for  the  living. 

Now  it  may  be  well  just  at  this  point  to  recall 
the  few  items  of  information  concerning  the  state 
of  the  dead  immediately  after  death  which  may 
be  gleaned  with  tolerable  certainty  from  the 
Scriptures.  As  I  have  said,  the  Scriptures  reveal 
little  more  than  a  few  general  truths.  What  we 
may  learn  from  them  is  rather  in  the  way  of  cor- 
recting error  than  of  disclosing  possible  informa- 
tion. To  the  old  patriarchs  the  grave  was  even 
darker  than  it  is  to  us.  Little  by  little,  however, 
light  shone  into  it  with  the  progress  of  revela- 
tion, until  by  Christ's  resurrection  life  and  immor- 


172  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

tality  have  been  brought  to  Hght ;  and  though 
the  grave  be  still  in  the  twilight,  though  the 
forms  there  be  shadowy,  we  may  see  enough  to 
give  us  great  joy  and  to  add  new  force  to  the 
doctrine  before  us  of  the  dead  as  waiting  for  the 
living. 

Thus  we  may  be  certain  that  the  dead  are  not 
unconscious.  We  say  they  are  asleep,  but  w^e 
only  mean  that  they  seem  to  be.  Their  souls  are 
not  asleep.  There  is  no  break  in  the  continuity 
of  their  life.  The  very  phrase  used  in  the  Old 
Testament,  that  they  have  been  gathered  unto 
their  fathers,  would  seem  to  imply  this,  for  we 
hardly  suppose  it  to  mean  merely  that  their 
bodies  have  been  laid  in  the  ancestral  tomb. 
Twice  the  phrase  is  used  when  this  was  certainly 
not  the  case.  At  any  rate,  the  revelations  of 
later  Scriptures  made  this  perfectly  certain.  Who 
were  those  visitors  from  the  other  world  whom 
the  disciples  saw  talking  w^ith  Christ  on  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration  ?  They  were  Moses 
and  Elijah,  w^ho  years  before  had  passed  into  the 
other  world,  and  who  there  were  evidently  inter- 
ested in  the  progress  of  events  on  earth,  since 
they  came  to  commune  with  the  Christ  for  whom 
on  earth  they  had  looked.  What  was  Paul's 
view  of  death,  as  he  viewed  the  possibility  of  it 


THE  WAITING  DEAD  173 

for  himself?  It  was  "  to  depart,  and  to  be  with 
Christ ;  which  is  far  better."  That  impHes  a  con- 
scious hfe  immediately  after  death,  so  that  we  are 
not  surprised  to  read  in  the  Apocalypse  of  visions 
of  the  saints  in  glory  or  that  at  the  end  Jesus 
will  return  with  ten  thousands  of  His  saints. 
The  dead,  therefore,  are  not  unconscious;  when 
we  say  that  they  are  waiting  we  mean  it  literally, 
— they  are  expecting  and  looking  forward  to  the 
object  of  their  hope. 

Then,  again,  we  may  be  certain  that  the  state 
of  the  dead  is  not  one  of  probation.  This  was 
the  idea  of  the  wise  man  when  he  wrote,  "  What- 
soever thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy 
might;  for  there  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor 
knowledge,  nor  wisdom,  in  the  grave,  whither 
thou  goest."  This  is  beyond  doubt  the  reason 
why  the  Scriptures  declare  so  emphatically  that 
this  life  is  a  probation — "  Now  is  the  accepted 
time  ;  now  is  the  day  of  salvation."  "  It  is  ap- 
pointed unto  men,"  we  read,  *'  once  to  die,  but 
after  this  the  judgment";  and  at  the  latter  men 
are  to  be  judged  for  the  deeds  done  in  the  body. 

I  know  that  the  idea  of  a  probation  after  death 
is  now  a  favorite  one,  but  it  is  held  in  the  face  of 
the  whole  drift  of  revelation.  I  think  it  alto- 
gether more  Scriptural  to  abide  by  the  view  that 


174  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

at  death  destiny  is  fixed ;  the  children  of  God  go 
to  their  place  and  the  children  of  the  Wicked 
One  to  theirs.  This  does  not  mean,  however,  that 
the  reunion  of  the  one  or  the  misery  of  the  other 
is  complete.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  waiting, 
as  we  shall  see.  Only  we  may  be  sure  that  the 
believing  dead, — for  it  is  of  these  we  are  speak- 
ing,— do  not  wait  in  any  uncertainty.  Their  lot 
is  fixed.  They  rest  in  hope.  They  wait  in  peace. 
They  are  not  passing  through  any  more  proba- 
tion. All  that  is  ended.  Their  struggles,  their 
battles,  are  over.  They  rest  from  their  labors. 
They  are  in  Abraham's  bosom.  They  are  in  the 
arms  of  Christ. 

Now  it  almost  necessarily  follows  from  what 
has  been  said  that  the  state  of  believers  after 
death  is  one  of  complete  happiness  and  entire 
holiness.  It  is  just  here  that  we  lack  much 
information  that  tearful  eyes  have  sought  to  dis- 
cover. But  we  recall  again  the  words  of  the 
apostle,  "  To  depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ,"  and 
we  are  sure  that  to  be  with  Christ  is  to  be  happy, 
that  it  is  to  be  also  holy, — for  who  could  be  in 
His  presence  in  glory  without  being  purified? 
That  it  is  to  possess  more  knowledge  and  power 
and  joy  than  now  we  can  well  conceive.  How 
could  they  rest  from  labors  if  not  holy,  when  the 


THE  WAITING  DEAD  175 

greatest  object  of  their  labors  is  to  attain  holi- 
ness ? 

But  what  the  external  conditions  of  existence 
are  in  this  intermediate  state  we  know  not,  and  I 
have  no  wish  to  speculate.  By  what  organs  the 
soul  shall  take  part  in  the  life  of  that  dim  world 
we  can  only  guess.  That  there,  too,  as  on  earth, 
there  will  be  a  process  of  growth  and  spiritual 
development  in  behevers,  we  may  fairly  suppose, 
while  admitting  their  sinlessness.  That  the  ab- 
sence of  earth  and  flesh,  and  the  presence  of 
Christ  and  the  glorified  will  give  free  play  to  the 
spiritual  life  of  the  soul,  and  will  at  once  banish 
sin  as  well  as  temptation,  sorrow  as  well  as  care, 
we  seem  to  have  reason  to  believe.  Then  are  the 
spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  and  the  believer 
in  Jesus  may  be  laid  to  rest  in  the  confidence  that 
he  has  already  entered  into  the  joy  of  his  Lord, 
has  already  tasted  the  sweets  of  his  Saviour's 
presence,  has  already  been  blessed  by  entering 
into  the  life  of  the  family  of  God. 

Yet  it  is  none  the  less  true  that  the  dead  are 
waiting,  and  waiting  for  the  living, — not  rest- 
lessly, not  unhappily,  but  eagerly  and  with  vivid 
anticipation,  we  may  suppose.  Nor  do  I  mean 
merely  that  they  are  waiting  for  the  living  to  join 
them  in  the  other  world.     No  doubt  this  also  is 


176  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

true.  They  carry  with  them  the  remembrance  of 
those  they  loved  on  earth,  and  doubtless  will  be 
glad  to  welcome  them  when  in  God's  time  they 
too  are  summoned  hence.  They  w^ait,  I  doubt 
not,  to  see  the  harvest  gathered  from  the  seeds  of 
love  and  truth  which  they  sowed  in  the  hearts  of 
others,  to  see  the  fulfillment  of  the  prayers  perhaps 
whose  answer  they  were  not  permitted  to  see  on 
earth.  They  wait  for  the  living,  and  if  it  be  pos- 
sible, they  gladly  join  in  the  anthems  of  praise 
which  give  fresh  glory  to  Christ  as  one  and 
another  of  His  people  take  their  places  in  the 
happy  throng. 

But  this  is  not  the  main  sense  in  which  they  are 
said  to  be  waiting  for  the  living.  This  is  not  the 
sense  in  which  we  have  spoken  of  Jacob  and 
Joseph  as  waiting  for  their  children.  These  pa- 
triarchs died  in  the  hope,  as  I  have  said,  of  Israel's 
return  to  Canaan,  of  Israel's  glory  in  the  promised 
land,  in  the  hope  of  the  fulfillment  on  earth  to 
Israel  of  all  the  promises  of  God.  The  great 
truth,  therefore,  is  that  the  dead  are  waiting  for 
the  living  to  work  out  and  establish,  under  God, 
the  promised  kingdom  of  Christ.  What  was  it 
that  Moses  and  Elijah  were  most  interested  in,  if 
we  may  judge  from  their  words  at  the  Transfigura- 
tion ?     Wc  read  that  they  spoke  of  the  decease 


THE  WAITING  DEAD  177 

which  Jesus  was  about  to  accomplish  at  Jerusa- 
lem. Ah !  they  had  been  waiting  in  the  other 
world  for  the  coming  of  the  Christ,  for  the  prom- 
ised glory  to  dawn  on  Israel  in  the  flesh,  for  the 
great  sacrifice  for  human  sin  to  be  offered.  Did 
not  Jesus  say,  "Abraham  rejoiced  to  see  My  day  : 
and  he  saw  it," — saw  it  doubtless  from  above, — 
"  and  was  glad  "  ? 

Then  do  you  not  remember  how  Paul  com- 
forted the  Thessalonian  Christians  by  assuring 
them  that  those  who  had  fallen  asleep  in  Christ 
should  rise  first  and  share  with  the  hving  in  the 
future  kingdom  ?  He  too,  it  is  evident,  thought 
of  the  dead  as  waiting  for  the  providence  of  God 
and  the  toil  of  the  Church  to  work  out  in  the  liv- 
ing world  the  appointed  day  of  victory.  So,  finally, 
John  makes  us  hear  the  souls  of  the  martyrs  cry- 
ing unto  God,  "  How  long,  O  Lord,  holy  and  true, 
dost  Thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on 
them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  "  ?  We  are  told  that 
white  robes  were  given  unto  every  one  of  them ; 
and  it  was  said  unto  them  that  they  should  rest 
yet  for  a  little  season,  until  their  fellow  servants 
also  and  their  brethren,  that  should  be  killed  as 
they  were,  should  be  fulfilled.  That  is  but  a  pic- 
ture, made  fearful  by  the  lurid  lights  of  the  Apoc- 
alypse, of  the  Church  above  waiting  for  the  mis- 
12 


178  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

sion  of  the  Church  on  earth  to  be  carried  out. 
This,  then,  is  the  great  idea  which  was  in  the 
mind  of  the  patriarchs  when  they  died :  In  death 
they  were  to  wait  for  the  hving  to  fulfill  the  work 
of  God  for  the  generations  following,  to  hasten  on 
the  consummation,  waiting  for  the  wheels  of 
Providence  to  revolve,  for  the  kingdom  of  the 
Christ  to  come ;  waiting  for  the  living  to  receive 
the  fulfillment  of  the  promise  in  the  faith  of  which 
they  died.  So  thought  the  writer  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  for  he  concludes  his  familiar 
catalogue  of  Hebrew  believers  with  these  words, 
"  These  all,  having  obtained  a  good  report  through 
faith,  received  not  the  promise:  God  having  pro- 
vided some  better  thing  for  us,  that  they " — 
mark  you — "  that  they  without  us  should  not  be 
made  perfect."  The  dead  are  waiting  for  the 
living  to  carry  out  the  work  of  God. 

Now  this  may  put  the  facts  before  us  in  a  some- 
what unusual  Hght,  yet  it  is  strange  that  we  do 
not  think  of  it  oftener,  so  evidently  is  this  the 
teaching  of  the  Bible.  We  think  of  the  dead  as 
only  waiting  for  us  to  go  to  them.  Or  we  speak 
as  if  they  had  now  lost  interest  in  this  world,  as 
if  they  had  laid  all  thought  of  earth  aside  with 
the  tabernacles  that  they  have  left,  as  if  they  were 
now  absorbed  in  the  things  of  heaven  and  had 


THE  WAITING  DEAD  179 

forgotten  the  sphere  in  which  the  best  of  God's 
redemption  of  man  is  being  wrought  out.  But 
how  impossible  would  this  be  !  On  the  contrary, 
they  are  waiting  more  eagerly  than  we  for  the 
coming  kingdom.  Their  supreme  thought  is  of 
the  fulfillment  of  the  promises  to  Christ.  We  im- 
agine that  their  lesson  to  us  would  be,  "  Prepare 
to  die,"  but  not  so, — they  would  say,  "  Work 
while  it  is  called  to-day.  Prepare  to  live.  Double 
your  energy,  double  your  devotion,  stop  frittering 
away  hfe  in  mere  pleasure  or  gain,  wait  and  work, 
as  we  worked  and  now  wait,  for  the  coming  king- 
dom. Hasten  by  all  that  is  in  you  the  day  of  the 
Saviour's  advent !  " 

Therefore  I  say  that  the  thought  of  the  sainted 
dead  ought  to  be  a  grand  inspiration  to  noble, 
active  Christian  living.  How  do  you  think  they 
would  live  if  they  could  again  put  on  the  armor 
or  again  handle  the  plow  ?  Would  they  waste 
hfe  in  play  ?  Would  they  doubt  or  falter  ?  Ah, 
this  is  the  message  to  us  of  the  waiting  dead ! 
"Seeing  we  also  are  compassed  about  with  so 
great  a  cloud  of  w^itnesses,  ...  let  us  run  with 
patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us."  Paul 
would  gladly  have  departed  to  be  with  Christ, — 
but  he  added,  for  me  to  remain  is  more  needful  for 
you.     That  is  the  true  spirit, — there  is  work  to  be 


i8o  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

done.  There  is  God's  great  plan  on  earth  to  be 
carried  out.  There  is  Christ  to  be  enthroned. 
There  is  redemption  to  be  made  complete.  There 
is  the  promised  land,  not  far  away,  but  here  in  this 
world  to  be  attained. 

The  sainted  dead  are  waiting  for  us  to  help  on 
this  result,  and  if  they  can  watch  us  here  below, 
nothing,  we  may  be  sure,  will  give  them  so  much 
joy  as  to  behold  us  doing  what  we  can  to  hasten 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  on  earth.  Sometimes  men 
talk  with  reverence  and  affection  of  their  departed 
loved  ones  and  say  they  hope  to  join  them  in  the 
better  world ;  yet,  forsooth,  they  continue  to  live 
under  the  influence  of  passion  and  pride,  and  ab- 
sorbed in  mere  secular  toil,  as  if  this  world  and 
death  had  nothing  to  do  with  each  other  save 
that  the  former  is  the  prelude  of  the  latter, 
whereas  always  the  opposite  is  true, — that  world 
is  a  prelude  to  what  this  is  to  be.  This  world  as 
it  now  is  must  become  changed.  Christ's  king- 
dom must  come  in  its  fullness,  and  for  this,  I  say, 
the  dead  are  waiting — and  waiting  for  us  who  are 
living  to  finish  the  work  which  they  began. 

Now,  why  do  they  wait  for  this  ?  Are  we  to 
suppose  that,  when  Jacob  and  Joseph  were  so 
anxious  to  have  burial  in  Canaan,  they  had  no 
thought  of  personally  sharing  with  their  posterity 


THE  WAITING  DEAD  l8i 

in  the  blessings  of  the  future?  Was  it  mere 
sentiment  which  made  them  wish  to  find  graves 
in  the  sacred  soil  ?  Was  it  because  they  thus 
sought  to  secure  a  place  in  the  remembrance  of 
their  children  ?  We  cannot  believe  it.  It  seems 
clear  that  these  patriarchs  expected  to  enjoy  the 
blessing  also,  that  they  expected  to  come  from 
Machpelah  some  day  and  enjoy  the  promised 
land.  So  explicit  had  the  Lord's  word  been  to 
Abraham  :  "  Seest  thou  this  land  ?  To  thee  will 
I  give  it  and  to  thy  seed."  But  it  was  not  given 
to  Abraham  in  this  life;  and  so,  I  suppose,  the 
patriarchs  expected  to  come  forth  from  the  other 
world  and  partake  in  the  glory  of  the  kingdom 
which  the  promised  Christ  would  establish. 

This  does  not  mean  the  restoration  of  Jews. 
This  then  adds  something  to  our  doctrine  of  the 
waiting  dead.  They  are  waiting  for  the  living  to 
fulfill  the  appointed  work,  and  this  because  they 
are  waiting  in  the  expectation  of  taking  part 
themselves  in  the  kingdom  of  the  future.  What ! 
you  say,  have  not  the  sainted  dead  already  ob- 
tained their  reward  ?  Are  we  to  think  of  their 
bliss  as  incomplete  ?  Are  we  not  to  console  our- 
selves by  the  reflection  that  our  loss  is  their  gain  ; 
and  that  already  they  have  entered  into  rest? 
Certainly  we   are ;    and    I    have   already   shown 


1 82  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

some  of  the  revelations  made  to  us  concerning 
their  state.  In  the  presence  of  Christ  they  do 
enjoy  rest  and  peace.  Their  race  is  over.  Their 
probation  is  finished.  Their  salvation  is  fixed. 
Lazarus  in  Abraham's  bosom  has  indeed  gained 
much  after  the  life  in  which  he  sat  as  a  beggar  at 
the  rich  man's  gate,  and  so  likewise  every  dead 
believer  is  safe  and  free  and  happy.  But  at  the 
same  time  there  is  now  an  intermediate  state. 
There  is  far  more  awaiting  them.  They  have  not 
yet  obtained  the  full  reward ;  not  yet  entered  into 
the  full  glory;  not  yet  tasted  the  complete  hap- 
piness of  the  world  to  come.  It  is  not  to  detract 
from  their  present  happiness  that  we  thus  speak, 
but  rather  to  unroll  before  our  thoughts  the  vision 
of  still  greater  blessedness  which  awaits  them. 
For  they  are  waiting  for  the  time  when  at  the 
appointed  signal  they  shall  take  their  resurrected 
bodies, — shall  join  the  descending  Christ, — shall 
inhabit  the  city  of  God  which  John  saw  descend- 
ing out  of  heaven;  and  then  shall  enter  upon  the 
everlasting  state  in  which  God's  redemption  of  the 
world  is  to  issue. 

I  want  you  to  observe  the  place  which  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead  occupies  in  this  plan 
of  the  Almighty.  We  think  of  it  as  an  isolated 
event, — as  a  peculiar  thing, — as  something  which 


THE  WAITING  DEAD  183 

we  may  scarcely  believe  even  on  the  credit  of 
revelation.  But  if  you  will  think  of  the  resurrec- 
tion as  part  of  the  great  change  which  is  to  come 
over  all  this  world  in  order  to  fit  it  for  the  future 
kingdom  of  Christ,  it  will  appear  less  incredible 
because  no  longer  isolated.  There  is  to  be,  we 
are  told,  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth  in  which 
shall  dwell  righteousness.  Society  is  to  be  re- 
organized under  the  dominion  of  the  living  Spirit 
of  the  reigning  Christ.  A  new  history  is  to  be 
begun.  The  old  is  to  pass  away  forever, — what 
are  to  be  the  enjoyments  and  employments  of  hu- 
manity then  we  do  not  know.  But  that  we  are 
warranted  in  expecting  not  merely  an  individual 
immortality  but  an  immortality  of  society — of 
humanity — and  that  in  this  reorganized,  redeemed 
race,  men  are  to  find  their  full  opportunities  for 
divine  living  of  every  kind,  is  a  fact,  I  think,  be- 
yond reasonable  question.  The  resurrection  is  to 
be  the  reclothing  of  human  spirits  for  this  new 
world  and  new  life.  As  they  have  borne  the 
image  of  the  earthly,  they  shall  also  bear  the 
image  of  the  heavenly.  And  as  in  the  state  be- 
yond the  grave  they  have  been  made  like  Christ 
in  soul,  so,  moreover,  in  the  world  beyond  the 
judgment  and  the  second  advent,  shall  they  be 
made  like  also  unto  His  glorious  body,  according 


i84  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

to  the  power — and  as  part  of  the  exercise  of  the 
power — whereby  He  is  able  (and  is  destined)  to 
subdue  all  things  unto  Himself!  We  say,  there- 
fore, that  the  dead  are  waiting.  The  patriarchs 
on  earth  sought  the  city  with  foundations,  the 
patriarchs  in  heaven  are  still  waiting  for  it ;  and 
the  patriarchs  died  in  the  hope  that  they  too 
should  share  the  promised  inheritance, — and  they 
shall,  and  we  shall,  and  all  the  believing  hosts 
shall, — for  this  corruptible  shall  put  on  incor- 
ruption,  and  this  mortal  shall  put  on  immortality. 
Then  shall  be  brought  to  pass  the  saying  that 
is  written,  "  Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory." 
I  was  impressed  recently  with  a  sentence  which 
Frederick  D.  Maurice  wrote  in  a  letter  to  a  friend 
soon  after  the  burial  of  a  beloved  sister.  Speak- 
ing of  the  burial  service,  he  calls  it  "  a  glorious 
duty,  for  the  more  I  think  of  the  way  in  w^hich 
the  children  of  Israel  asserted  their  right  to  the 
possession  of  Canaan,  merely  by  burying  their 
dead  in  it,  and  consider  the  exactness  of  the  type 
in  all  particulars, — the  more  do  I  feel  that  every- 
body put  into  this  earth  is  a  new  declaration  that 
Christ  is  coming  to  claim  the  earth  for  His 
Church."  That  is  true !  They  are  waiting  for  the 
signal  to  return  !  They  are  waiting  to  take  their 
places   in   the  new  world,  to  enter  through   the 


THE  WAITING  DEAD  185 

gates  into  the  city  where  the  nations  of  them  that 
are  saved  shall  walk  in  the  light  of  Christ ;  where 
there  shall  be  no  more  curse ;  where  they  shall 
see  His  face  and  His  name  shall  be  in  their  fore- 
heads ;  where  the  Lord  God  shall  give  them  light, 
and  they  shall  reign  forever  and  ever. 

Thus,  then,  Genesis  closes  with  this  suggestion 
of  the  waiting  dead,  and  when  the  great  patriarchs 
have  been  laid  in  their  sepulchers,  the  history  pro- 
ceeds with  the  long  record  of  their  children's  fal- 
tering progress  toward  the  attainment  of  the 
hopes  in  which  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  and  Joseph, 
died ;  and  slowly  the  movement  went  forward  till 
the  Shiloh  came,  and  now  more  grandly  is  it  mov- 
ing onward  toward  the  second  coming.  We,  my 
hearers,  are  the  spiritual  children  of  Abraham, 
and  ours  too  is  the  patriarch's  faith  and  hope. 
Therefore  the  multitude  of  the  waiting  dead 
should  urge  us  on.  As  I  have  said,  they  cry  to 
us  not  that  we  should  come  to  them,  but  that  we 
should,  so  to  speak,  hasten  the  time  of  their  com- 
ing to  us, — that  we  should  live  and  work  and 
hasten  the  glad  end, — do  what  we  can  to  make 
the  new  world  in  which  they  are  to  share  with  us. 
As  you  think  of  the  cloud  of  witnesses,  run  your 
race !  Doubtless  you  have  loved  ones  there — 
sainted  friends.     "  There  are  the  good  and  blest, 


i86  THE  SINLESS  CHRIST 

those  I  love  most  and  best."  You  are  apt  to  think 
that  your  reverence  for  them  should  lead  you 
merely  to  keep  their  memory  green.  But  not  so. 
Let  the  thought  of  them  as  waiting  lead  you  rather 
to  work  and  live  more  noble,  more  Christlike  lives. 
This  is  the  wish  of  the  waiting  dead.  Should  not 
the  soldier,  at  sight  of  his  dead  comrade,  turn 
more  fiercely  to  the  battle  to  win  the  cause  for 
which  his  comrade  died?  Has  not  the  grave  of 
Livingstone  in  the  heart  of  Africa  quickened  thou- 
sands of  hearts  to  carry  out  the  great  missionary 
work  ?  And  when  we  think  of  those  who  believed 
and  died  not  having  received  the  promises,  what 
shall  we  infer  if  not  that  we  are  more  zealously  to 
follow  the  road  in  following  which  they  fell  ? 
O  living  men,  heed,  I  pray  you,  the  message  of 
the  dead !  They  being  dead,  still  speak.  Live 
true  Christian,  active,  toiling  lives.  Press  toward 
the  promised  inheritance,  that  with  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  with  others  whom  we  need  not 
name,  you  should  see  in  full  glory  the  kingdom 
of  God. 


